From the Heart
by thisthatorme
Summary: Watch as bonds are made and friendships are tested as life moves forward. Trust, friendship, loyalty. It all comes from somewhere. These are all the things that come from the heart.
1. Chapter 1

He could feel a migraine coming on at the insistent talking from his "best friend", the blonde who's desk sat in the row in front of his own. There was a look of pure annoyance on the raven's face as he felt the migraine grow in strength.

"Oi, Teme! You're not even listening!" The boisterous voice of the blonde cried, his cerulean eyes watching onyx eyes expectantly.

"Of course I'm listening. You're so loud, I'm surprised the whole school isn't listening." The Uchiha male sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Bastard!" Growled as he prepared himself to launch at the raven haired male.

"Enough, Naruto-kun. We have a new student and I rather not run her off before we've even met her." Came the voice of their sensei, Umino Iruka.

This piqued everyone's interest, even the Uchiha's (but he'd never say so).

"Right then, come on in." He said softly as the door opened.

Everyone could not help but gawk at the female that stood beside their teacher. Her eyes were the brightest emerald anyone had ever seen, she had ivory skin and she had an air of confidence that made her stick out. But, of course, that was not the most prominent thing that stuck out about her. Hushed whispers started, they questioned whether or not the pink hair that was elegantly braided and pulled over her left shoulder was natural or dyed. She bowed before the class for a moment and stood straight with a small smile, "My name is Haruno Sakura, but please…. Just call me Sakura. And yes, before anyone asks, my hair is really pink." She shrugged, causing a few people to snicker.

"Right then, thank you, Sakura-chan. Please go ahead and sit in whatever empty chair you can find. "

Looking around the classroom, Sakura began to seek an empty chair. Spotting one, she slowly walked towards it. Her new seat was beside a raven haired male that had a calculating look on his face. Internally, the Uchiha was annoyed, he prayed to Kami this girl would not be another fan girl, he'd had enough of those. Sakura gave a small smile as she sat down, only to scoot a bit over, getting away from the raven haired male. Saskue couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in silent question.

"I have a thing about personal space, my own and that of others." She responded softly before placing her things on her desk and putting her attention to the front of the room where their lesson was to resume. Saskue stared at the female for a long moment. He was used to women trying to move closer, not further to him.

' _Tsk. Maybe she won't be so annoying then_.'

Sasuke couldn't help but sneak glances at the female beside him. She wore a pair of black spandex shorts and a white shirt beneath a Crimson red vest that looked as though it was a pull-over. He had noticed, when she went to pulled the chair away, that her vest had a white circle on the back. It was probably her clan's symbol. He thought he was being stealthy in all of his musings until the pink haired girl turned her emerald eyes to him and she gave a smirk, "Staring is rude, sir." When a red blush painted his cheeks, he whipped his head towards the front of the room and let out a small huff.

Laughing to herself, the rosette turned her attention to the book on the desk. She was reading something and seemed to be ignoring whatever Iruka-sensei had been saying. Sasuke couldn't help but glance over once more time to time, interested in what the new student could possibly find more important than getting updated on their class. Okay, that was a lie. He knew a million things that were more important, but that wasn't the point.

"It's about a man who finds himself the sole survivor of his family after a rather nasty civil war. He gets bogged down with anger and revenge, he allows it to fester and guide him down the path of no return. He finds out that the war was in the favor of the greater good and that it was _his_ family that had killed thousands of innocent people before finally meeting their own fate. He was left to live because they thought he could start over and give his family the respectful name it deserved, but he only allowed it to further soil." Sakura murmured, her eyes not removing themselves from the page.

"If you know all of that, then why are you reading it?" Sasuke found himself asking.

"I've read it at least twenty times already. The story it's self is rather drawn out, but it reminds us to stay humble. That life has a plan and that things happen for a reason. That sometimes our curse is a gift and we have to learn to see it that way." Sakura responded, her tone soft as it carried beneath Iruka's lesson.

Before Sasuke could say anything, the bell rung indicating it was time for lunch and the girl removed herself from her seat and walked over to the teacher, probably to get caught up with what they'd been learning to that point. Sasuke stared at the empty seat for a few moments before Naruto's obnoxiously loud voice pulled him back to reality and made his head throb with annoyance once more.

*.*.*.*

She hadn't expected for the class to be so... basic. She knew everything the teacher had been talking about, hence her not paying attention. She didn't mean to be rude, but she wasn't feeling challenged and figured at least she could do something productive. She could feel the onyx eyes that kept peering over at her and couldn't help but mentally laugh - if he thought he was being stealthy, he had a _long_ way to a. When the bell rang, Sakura asked Iruka-sensei about what she'd missed so far and listened intently as he spoke. Yes, she figured just as much - she knew everything that was being taught and had nothing to worry about as far as being behind in classes.

At least her next class, after lunch, was physical education - or rather it was hands on training on the little basic information they'd been taught so far. After Sakura finished with Iruka, she found herself outside beneath a tree and staring at the sky, her book resting on her barely formed chest.

"You like watching clouds too?" Came a bored voice beside her. Sakura looked over to the male with pineapple shaped hair.

"Yes. I get to think, or not think. Either way, it's a nice reprieve from class... and life." She mused lightly.

"I'm Nara Shikamaru."

"Nice to meet you, Nara-san." Sakura responded, her emerald eyes watching him for a moment before flickering back towards the sky.

"Shikamaru is fine. Nara-san is my dad."

"Right then, nice to meet you, _Shikamaru-san."_ The rosette repeated, earning a smirk from the male beside her. He wasn't sure yet, but he had a feeling he could get along with the new kid, she didn't seem as _troublesome_ as most of the girls in the school were.

"Hey! You! Forehead girl!" Growled a voice from aside them. Sakura was completely oblivious to the calling as she was too absorbed into cloud watching that she didn't hear anything the girl said.

"I think they're talking to you. How troublesome." Shikamaru grumbled, there went his peace time.

"Eh?" Sakura turned to the group of girls staring at her from a few feet away.

"Yeah, you, the freak with pink hair." Called a girl with purple hair. "Stay away from our Sasuke-kun. We'll let it slide for now 'cause you're new and all, but don't be thinking that'll save you from now on! Keep away from him!" She spat.

Sakura propped herself onto her elbows and cocked an eyebrow at the girl, "Who the hell is Sasuke?" Sakura asked dryly.

"That's Sasuke-san to you, forehead! He's the boy you sit next to in class!"

"Ah, the sulky looking one? I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." With that, Sakura lay back down and continued with her cloud watching, missing the smirk the Nara boy beside her held on his lips.

"Don't you dare ignore me!" Hissed the girl, stomping over to the rosette. Just as she was about to push the girl with her foot, Sakura looked the girl in the eyes and sighed, "I really would not do that if I were you."

"And why the hell not?!"

"Because I am a stranger, for all you know I could be able to break every bone in your foot."

"Is that a threat?!"

"Do you care enough to find out?" Sakura asked, cocking an eyebrow.

The girl seemed conflicted and before she could answer, the bell rang signalling the end of recess. "You're lucky, you pink haired brat! I'll find you and I'll make you regret threatening me!" With that, the girl turned on her heels towards her friends and headed into the academy.

"That was annoying." Sakura sighed as she removed herself from the ground.

"Would you have been able to do it?" Asked the Nara.

"Mhm, maybe." Sakura answered with a mirth in her eyes. With that, Sakura turned towards the academy and headed to her next class.

"Troublesome." Nara said in a tired voice with a small smile on his lips.

He definitely liked this girl.

*.*.*.*.*

When class began, Sakura stood amongst the other girls, her braid in a tight bun at the back of her head. She wore a black tank top and dark green shorts. There was a loud voice carrying over all the others which seemed to belong to the blonde haired boy she had seen in her class earlier that day. Amongst him stood the boy she sat next to, Sasuke she assumed, and a few others. Nara stood beside a kid in a rather large coat and a boy that was hefty and eating from a bag of chips.

She didn't miss the fact that two girls stood beside them as well, a girl with blue or purple hair (it was hard to tell from where she stood) and lilac eyes who was blushing profusely (she looked almost as if she was going to pass out) and beside her stood a girl with platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She wondered if they were all clan kids, she had heard that most clan kids hung out with each other - at least that had been her experience in the past. She wondered if the same rang true here as well.

"Sakura-chan, seeing as you are the newest addition to the class, I'd like to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie. If that's okay with you, of course." Came Iruka's voice, pulling the rosette from her thoughts.

"If it is helpful, I don't mind." Sakura answered.

Iruka stared at the girl for a moment before giving a nod. Turning his eyes over to the crowd of girls, he tried to find a good match. Of course, what best punishment to give to the lovely Ami who decided to be late to class? "I see you managed to find your way to class, Ami-chan."

The girl with purple hair, the one who'd been harassing her not even an hour ago, gave Iruka a sheepish smile before looking away with a pout.

"Then you get to be our guest of honor and take Sakura-chan for a ride."

Ami groaned before perking up, it was the pink haired little brat that mouthed off to her and sat next to Sasuke-kun in class. This she could have fun with. "Of course, Iruka-sense. Couldn't dream of anything better."

It seemed the whole class found this interesting and gathered around the two girls, they wanted to see what the new girl had to offer. Sakura stood across from the purple haired girl and stared passively. "Well, guess you're all talk then!" Ami shouted, "We'll see who can break who's foot!" With that, Ami launched herself at the rosette, only to miss her entirely. Sakura had simply moved to the side and Ami fell to her face. "You shouldn't just run into battle." Sakura said in a monotone voice.

"Shut up!" Yelled Ami as she went for another hit, only to end up with Sakura grabbing her arm and pushing her away. "Fight me and stop dodging!"

Sakura shook her head, "Why should I fire at my enemy when they are sinking their own ship?" She asked, her calm demeanor annoying Ami to no end. This, of course, caused Ami to fling herself once more, only to end up tossed into the crowd of children beside them. "You allow your rage to blind you. You need to work with it instead of allowing it to engulf you. Doing that in the battlefield is a liability. That will only get yourself and your comrades killed." Sakura said with an icy voice, "And I refuse to be killed because of someone's careless mistakes." With that, Sakura turned to Iruka, "I no longer find this fight useful. I hope you've received your answer." Sakura stepped to the sidr, evading a sneak attack by Ami only to have her run right into Iruka. "Point proven."

When everyone got back to class, the students were all buzzing about what Sakura had done and said during physical education.

"That was amazing! She put Ami in her place!" Cheered Naruto, "She was so calm and didn't even raise her hand!"

"It was pretty damn awesome! I wonder what she's like in an actual fight!" Inuzuka Kiba added, the excitement on his face just as obvious as the blonde's.

"She was just a snotty show off." Yamanaka Ino huffed, she hated how the new girl was getting all this attention, even Sasuke-kun had been amused by the so called fight.

"Why don't you go ahead and test that theory, Ino." Mused Shikamaru. He knew this girl would be interesting. Ino's face turned pink before she plopped into her seat and huffed out a "whatever" under her breath, causing Naruto and Kiba to laugh loudly. Hyuuga Neji remained quite as did his cousin, Hinata - although internally she had been applauding the rosette. Someone finally shut that damn girl up. Lee was going on and on about spring time youth and the power of her beauty.

When the door opened to the classroom, everyone quieted down as they watched the girl in question make her way to her seat beside the Uchiha. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

"So I've been told." Sakura smirked and turned her attention to Iruka as he knocked his knuckles against the chalk board.

"Alright, alright. Enough. Tomorrow's agenda has changed. Tomorrow we will be looking at teams that will be headed by Jounin instructors." Iruka stated calmly, earning a bunch of cheers from most of the children in the class, Naruto being the loudest.

"Alright. Everyone get a night's rest, tomorrow will be a long day!" Before Iruka could say anything further, a blur of bodies rushed past him into the halls and outside of the Academy.

Sakura walked calmly down to the door with Sasuke close behind. "Have a good night, Sakura." He said simply as he walked towards the gates in the opposite direction. Sakura waved goodbye to him and several other children that called her name, Nara being one of them.

The walk home was simple enough, she lived not too far from the academy. "Welcome home, honey! How was your first day?" Greeted her mother, Haruno Mebuki.

"Eventful, to say the least. Tomorrow we get put into teams." Sakura answered giving her mother a warm hug.

"My little ninja, you're a prodigy just like your father. Wait and see. Go get cleaned up, dinner is almost ready."

Sakura smiled and headed to her room, today had been a rather long day, but she couldn't help but feel excited for the next day of class.

*.*.*.*

 **Author's note:**

 **I really have no business writing** _ **another**_ **story, but here I am hehe. So this is a AU story with nonmassacre and with Naruto's parents alive. I don't own Naruto or anything about it aside from my own plot, just FYI. This will be eventual Itachi/Sakura. I am rating this M just in case. I have another story called Voices going on if anyone is interested. Anyway. Shoot me some reviews and let me know what you think so far. I have no schedule planned as far as updates and no goal when it comes to length in chapters, some may be 3000 words some maybe 500... we'll see. I apologize for a lot of it OOC for the characters I'm sure you'll all notice.**

 **Much love.**


	2. Chapter 2

Her mornings were simple.

She got up long before the sun would rise, got dressed, ate something small and hydrated.

Then she trained.

She trained until her muscles begged for rest, until she could barely see beyond the sweat that covered her and spilled down her face.

Then she trained some more.

After training, she would take a shower, get dressed in her academy clothing – the signature black spandex shorts with a red pull over with her white under shirt – and braid her rose colored hair over her left shoulder. Looking herself over in the mirror, she gave a content smile and slipped on her sandals before having some breakfast and running out the door with her book bag hanging off her shoulder loosely. Walking to the academy, she could hear kids passing her by, chatting away happily as they went along their day. Stopping at the gates, Sakura glanced around and noticed the Uchiha and the blonde haired male he seemed to be so close with. "Hey! New girl!" Cried the blonde, zeroing in on the rosette. She barely stopped the sigh that came from her.

"Dobe, she has a name." Sasuke chided, shaking his head at his friend's stupidity.

"Oh, right! Sakura-chan!" Naruto corrected himself.

Sakura smiled at the blonde, his personality a fresh breath of air, it was magnetic and albeit him being rather boisterous, she couldn't help but enjoying the warmth that radiated. "My name is Naruto, nice to actually get to meet you!" He cheered, his bright cerulean eyes shining in the morning sun.

"Good morning, Naruto-san. Nice to meet you as well." Sakura responded softly, being engulfed in the boy's arms in what was apparently a rather hard hug, she couldn't help but hug him back.

"Let her go, dobe! You're gonna suffocate her or break something!" Sasuke growled, knocking the blonde on the back of the head.

"Oi! Teme, why'd the hell you do that for?" Naruto groaned as he let go of Sakura and rubbed the back of his head. Before more bickering could ensue, the bell rang signaling it was time to go in.

"We're being assigned teams today." Sakura recalled, looking over at the two boys, both of which smiled (well, as close to a smile as Sasuke could muster).

"Well, I'm going to be on the best team ever because I'm going to be Hokage, believe it!" Cheered Naruto as he ran through the gates merrily. Sakura watched, her eyes dancing with laughter as the Uchiha shook his head and walked beside him.

"I wish I could say he grows on you, but he really doesn't." Sighed Sasuke almost apologetically.

"He reminds me of one of my friends from back home." Sakura responded absentmindedly.

"Where are you from anyway?" The Uchiha asked, his onyx eyes flickering over to the rosette in question.

Sakura didn't get a chance to answer before a loud voice called out, "Sasuke-kun!" It was one of the many girls in the class, and last minute Sasuke had to take a sidestep to the side as he watched said girl sail past them and right onto the floor. "Baka." Sasuke rolled his eyes and entered the classroom. Sakura cocked her head to the side, this must be a daily occurrence if he was so used to dodging their antics, she sort of felt sorry for the boy. Sakura shrugged mentally and walked inside and took her seat beside the Uchiha as Naruto went on his long drawn out speech about how he'd be the best ninja ever and he'd be an even better Hokage than his dead, "Believe it!"

"Okay, Okay. We've got a bit of things to cover today before teams are assigned today. Let's get through our first few classes, shall we?" Called Iruka, trying to get everyone's attention, namely Naruto's.

Class began and Sakura resumed reading the book she was so engrossed in. Sasuke glanced over time to time and couldn't help but notice she was almost done with the book, he could have sworn it was not even half way through the morning before. "I really love this book." Sakura muttered, laughing mentally as the Uchiha's face turned bright pink at being caught again. "I can let you borrow it some time, if you'd like." She offered.

Sasuke cracked a small smile and gave a curt nod, "I'd… like that." He said softly. It was unusual for him to speak in such a way to pretty much anyone outside of his family, but he couldn't help it. Sakura wasn't annoying like any of the girls in the class and she certainly didn't get on his nerves like the damned dobe who just couldn't shut the hell up for more than fifteen seconds. She was calm, smart, and could actually talk about something interesting other than Ramen and need to be the "best Hokage" (believe it!) While they had only known each other for less than a day, he could see the look in her eyes during every part of the day. Her eyes were an open book, they reflected every emotion she felt, and he was sure that with time, he could probably be able to read every thought she had.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but he had made the decision to know her more. Of course, he would never tell this to _anyone,_ especially his family. _Especially_ his nii-san, _especially his okaasan_.

A shiver ran down his spine.

No, definitely not his okaasan.

&.&.&.&.

After classes let out for lunch, Sakura sat beneath the tree she had the previous day next to Shikamaru and put her book on her chest as she had the day before. Looking up into the sky, Sakura let out a soft sigh. She didn't know how just four hours had felt like sixteen, it was probably due to her lack of sleep lately and her earlier than usual mornings. Sure, she woke up early to train, but nothing like she had been lately.

The boy that she'd seen eating chips in the gym the day before sat on the other side beside Shikamaru, munching along on something that smelled delicious. Sakura was sort of jealous, she wish she could find something she loved as much as this boy enjoyed food.

"I'm Akimichi Choji." Greeted the boy.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you." Sakura greeted back with a smile.

"That was pretty cool what you did in gym yesterday." Choji said after some bit of silence, Shikamaru snoozing peacefully beside him.

"Is that good?" Sakura asked, her eyes looking at the food in Choji's hand.

"This? Yes! My mom made it for me." Choji smiled brightly.

"Here, try some of this." Sakura offered some of her bento to the boy, "My mom makes too much and I don't really each much. It'll just go to waste." Choji just about keeled over in happiness.

"This is great! Thanks!" He smiled brightly as he ate the remainder of her bento.

Sakura smiled back and lie down, closing her eyes for a whole five seconds before…

"SAAAKKKUUURRAAAA-CHAAANNNNNNN! TEME IS HITTING ME AGAIN!"

"There goes my nap." Grumbled Shikamaru beside her.

"It was worth the try." Mused Sakura as she got to her feet just in time to be slammed into a rather mood Naruto.

"He hit me right on the head!" He whinned causing Sakura's lips to turn down a bit. Looking at Sasuke, she raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't even hit him that hard." He grumbled, a blush creeping up his neck. She didn't even need to say anything, the look in her eyes was enough to make a mountain bow down.

"Come on, let's get to the gym. The bell is about to ring and I'd like to get a better locker this time." Sakura said suddenly, walking toward the academy, "You guys comin'?" She called, looking over her shoulder to Shikamaru and Choji. Naruto, Choji and Shikamaru stood in shock - no one had ever seen the Uchiha look as though he'd been scolded. He was always so smug or acted as if nothing bothered him. All it took was a _look_ from the rosette and he all but apologized to the blonde. They held little doubt that if she _had_ told or asked him to apologize, he might just have would've. Noticing that Sakura was not waiting for them to join her, the three men ran after the girl towards the academy, Sasuke right beside her.

*.*.*.*

"Oi, Sakura-chan, what is that? The book you're always reading?" Naruto asked as he peered over the female's shoulder. They'd been assigned teams after their gym class and it turned out that Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were on the same team - team 7. They had been waiting for about two hours at this point for their sensei to show up. There were other teams that seemed to have specialized fields. Trackers, weapons… Whatever. There was Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji on one team. Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Ten-ten on another. Hyuuga Hinata, Shino, and Kiba on another. What Sasuke couldn't figure out was what was their special supposed to be? Sure, he was a Uchiha and could one day awaken the sharingan (but don't dare ask him about that because it was a really sore topic for him seeing as he had not yet awakened it and his brother by this age was already far past that), Naruto had massive amounts of chakra - apparently he had a Kyuubi inside him, he of course shouldn't have known this - but his mother was friends with Naruto's mom so it was inevitable that he'd find out.. And Sakura…. Well Sakura was... Sakura and he wasn't exactly what that meant just yet. She was fast and swift, but she had yet to actually show anything - she refused to actually fight during class and remained using something called "Aikido". Apparently, Sakura felt it was easier to take the energy given to her and "go with the flow".

He would never admit it, but he was sort of interested in this. She didn't waste energy nor any chakra - she simply averted the energy given to her and gave it back to the aggressor. Sakura didn't give into their shouts or frustration - she was calm and cool and just let things happen. He was sure there was something she was hiding, maybe some secret talent or some kind of strength - whatever it was, he was sure they'd find out sooner or later.

Sakura went on to explain the book to Naruto as she did with Sasuke the day before.

"Read some for us." Naruto surprisingly asked.

Sakura looked at him for a long moment then smiled and nodded, "Alright."

 _And alas, he stood with his broad sword held high above his head. He looked upon his enemy with a proud smile for this was the end. But, what he had not expected, was the look in his victim's eyes. Sympathy, understanding, compassion... And grief. For what? His own life? No, he knew better, this man did not grieve for his end, only for the man who thought with his whole being that what he'd been doing was right. He thought he was avenging his family, when in reality, he merely continued to soil their name._

 _"I only hope that you find the peace that you seek." Came the man's soft voice before the blade bit between his shoulder blades._

 _Was there peace?_

 _Where did he go now?_

 _He finished his mission for revenge and now stood on the cusp of reality._

 _Perhaps..._

 _perhaps revenge wasn't so sweet.._

When Sakura looked up from her book, she gauged their reactions. "Wow…" Came Sasuke finally, echoing Naruto's thoughts.

Before anyone could say anything else, the door opened and Naruto's preset trap - which had been set up due to annoyance and boredom (Sakura tried to stop him, she truly did) - came crashing down onto the man that stood at the door. When the smoke cleared from the chalk, Naruto fell to the floor in a fit of laughter as Sasuke smirked and Sakura looked at the blonde with displeasure. She may have been a bit peeved with the man's rude lateness, but she didn't think chalking the man up was the answer.

"My first impression is… I hate you. On the room, two minutes." Were the first words their Jounin Sensei spoke to them before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

&.&.&.&

"Since we're a team, I guess maybe we should get to know each other some. Tell me your name, your likes, dislikes, and goal." The man muttered from behind a lewd orange book.

"How about you tell us about yourself first! You were the one that was late!" Cried Naruto, glaring at the man - this earned a slight head nod of agreement from his other two teammates.

"Fine. Mine name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't like a lot of things and I like even less things. I don't have many goals. Next, how about you with the permanent scowl?"

"What? Wait! That didn't even answer any of the questions, we still don't know anything about you!" Naruto yelled, cutting off the Uchiha before he could insult the man.

"Too bad, come on scowl boy."

With his eyebrow ticking, Uchiha finally decided to answer, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I like tomatoes, training with my nisan and I dislike hearing Naruto's loud mouth first thing in the morning." Sasuke shot the blonde a glare, "And my goal is to surpass my nii-san."

Of course, everyone knew about the two Uchiha and how much the youngest looked up to his dear nii-san. Kakashi mentally rolled his eyes, "Alright, you with the bright jumpsuit." Kakashi flicked his gaze over to the blonde.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like Ramen, hanging out with Sakura-chan and pulling pranks. I dislike when teme is mean and my goal is to be the Hokage, believe it!"

The Uchiha and the Hokage's son who happened to be the container for half of the Kyuubi, and…

"You, pinky."

If she were annoyed with the nickname, she didn't show it. "My name is Haruno Sakura, my likes include reading, training, and meditation - I also enjoy meeting my classmates and becoming friends with them. My dislikes, well I dislike having my time wasted and when people are beyond late to events." Sakura gave a blank look to the man in front of them, "My goals…" Mental images flashed across her mind, memories of where she'd come from and her life so far, "My goal is to be strong enough to protect those who are precious to me." There was a far away look in her eyes that caught the attention of all three men.

"Right. Well then. First meeting will be tomorrow. Meet me at the training grounds closest to the academy at 0600 sharp. Don't be late and don't eat breakfast, don't want any of you throwing up." With that cryptic message, the man disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Eat breakfast." Sakura simply said as she got to her feet, earning a look from both boys. "Eat breakfast. If we are going to be training hard, we need fuel. Eat something light that has protein and drink plenty of water. Bring water with you as well and maybe a couple of snack bars." The boys traded a look before nodding.

"Sakura-chan, can I walk you home?" Naruto asked, a soft blush dusting his cheeks.

"Don't you live on the opposite side of the village?" Sakura asked, her emerald eyes watching him intently. Naruto visibly wilted, "How about you walk me halfway, that way you don't have to walk as far by yourself." Immediately perked back up and smiled, "Yes!" He cheered.

"I can walk with you too." Sasuke said from the sideline.

"Of course, Sasuke-san." Sakura smiled softly, "Come now, it's getting late and I'm sure everyone's parents will get worried if we dawdle about."

As they walked, Sasuke remained silent. He watched as Sakura and Naruto interacted. How she remained calm even when Naruto was being a rather big pain in the ass. She didn't speak like the rest of the people in their class did. She spoke with bigger words and with a calm attitude - she wasn't full of herself nor did she talk down to others, and she included people in their conversations. Case in point, earlier in class that day Naruto and Kiba were arguing about something or another and Sakura engaged in a conversation with Aburame Shino and Hinata. She spoke with them so freely and seemed genuinely interested in Shino's bugs and praised Hinata on her hair and her eyes (Hinata almost passed out from all the attention).

He wondered how she became the way she was, there was something in her eyes - far away from where anyone could reach it. There wa a far away look in them whenever her thoughts took her somewhere else. He didn't know why he had become so observant of the rosette, but he didn't really mind.

When they met their halfway point, Haruno and Uchiha bid Uzumaki a good night and headed their way forward. When they stopped at their own midway point, Sasuke turned to the rosette with a soft blush on the back of his neck, "Hey, Sakura… I was wondering if I could borrow that book. The one you read from today."

It was as if he had given her some sort of gift because her face lit up and she pulled it out of her bag and handed it to him without much thought. "I bookmarked some of the pages and have a few notes on the side, you can just ignore those." She said as she put the books into his hands.

"Alright, thank you." His voice was genuine with happiness.

"See you tomorrow, Sasuke-san." With a small wave, she turned to leave.

"Sasuke. Sasuke is fine." He called to her, causing the girl to falter in her step for a moment before giving him a nod over her shoulder and a small smile.

*.*.*.*.*

"How was your day, Sakura-chan?" Came Mebuki's voice from the kitchen. Sakura kicked off her shoes and wandered over and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and a big hug.

"We have the famous copy-nin as our sensei." Sakura mused as she sat at the table, sneaking a bit of rice from the pot.

"Oh, is that so? Did he recognize you?" Mebuki asked, her smile playing on her lips.

"It's been a long time, I truly doubt it." Sakura shrugged as she grabbed some water. "Do you think dad remembers him?"

"There isn't much your father doesn't remember." Came her mother's response.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway, I'm going to shower and I'll come down for dinner after."

"Good idea." Mebuki agreed.

As Sakura headed out into the hall, Mebuki called out to her daughter, "And you don't have to train so hard, my love. You're amazing as you are and you will continue to blossom." Sakura bit her lip and smiled to herself before heading up to her room.

Tomorrow, she was going to become a gennin.

*.*.*.*.

 **Author's note: And that's that for chapter two!**

 **like. 56 I almost snorted when I read your review, I can promise this, Sakura will not be reduced to just a medic. She won't be god like, but she isn't just going to just be on the sidelines. I'm glad you're enjoying this so far though!**

 **I hope this isn't sounding too rushed, I don't like adding a bunch of fluff for no reason.**

 **I don't have any beta or anything, so if the grammar is terrible, I apologize.**

 **Anyway, hope everyone enjoys.**

 **Much love.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Sakura-chan, how do I know if I'm doing this right?" Naruto asked, annoyance in his voice and there was no doubt she'd find it on his face when her eyes opened. The three sat side by sat beneath a large oak tree. Sasuke was against the tree reading the book Sakura had leant him while said rosette and beside Naruto and explained how meditation was beneficial to their chakra, not that Naruto needed help in that department, he had chakra enough for the whole village.

"You need to relax and let your mind at ease." Sakura explained patiently in spite how annoyed she was, not at Naruto mind you, but at their rather late sensei - as in three hours late.

"Yo." Kakashi finally said, almost as if he appeared out of nowhere, almost scaring the blonde into a early grave. When he got over it, Naruto jumped to his feet and pointed his finger at the silver haired shinobi, "You're three hours late!" Naruto growled. Sasuke got from his place by the tree and gave Sakura a hand up (he knew she was more than capable of getting up on her own, but he figured Naruto wouldn't notice his nice deed seeing as he was too busy ripping Kakashi a new asshole). Sakura smiled brightly and took his hand, getting to her feet swiftly, she gave a nod of appreciation and turned to Kakashi.

"You see, there was a little old lady…"

"Since you're here, maybe we could do some training." Sakura cut off the man's (she was sure) pathetic excuse before he could continue. Giving the rosette a long look, he finally nodded and took from his pouch two small bells.

"We are going to do a bell test. You guys will have to get these from me, which I will have on my persons at all times for the next three hours. You have to get these from me before the end of the three hour mark."

"But, there's two bells…" Naruto butted in lamely.

"Observant, aren't we?" Kakashi muttered dryly, "Yes, there are only two, because only two of you will pass. You have three hours to retrieve the bells, I will not exit the grounds and who ever doesn't get a bell gets sent back to the academy. This test has a very small percentage of passing."

"How small?" Asked Sasuke now.

"Less than two percent. Now, on your marks, ready, set.." Before he said "go", Kakashi was gone in a poof of smoke.

Before either of the boys could bolt after him, Sakura grabbed onto their collars and yanked them back. "We need to work together." Sakura stated calmly.

"But there are only two bells, Sakura-chan." Whined Naruto, "Besides, you and I can get the bells and the bastard can just go back to the academy!" This, of course, earned a hot glare from the Uchiha. Before the Uchiha could dig into him, Sakura cut him off.

"This is a stupid test. We are a team, if you're okay with passing while allowing another to fail, then what is the point of the team?" Sakura asked, her eyes hot on them for a few moments as they looked at each other. She let them go slowly, "If you're okay with letting your team fail, then go for it, I refuse to be on the same team with any individual who puts their wants and needs above the good of the team. That's one step closer to putting themselves before their village. Last time I checked, the whole point of being a shinobi is to protect and serve our people - not put ourselves first." Both boys hung their heads in shame, she was right. Of course she was right. "Now, are we working as a team, or am I just going to head home?"

"We're going to work as a team!" Naruto cheered, earning a bright smile from Haruno.

"And you, Uchiha?" Sakura asked.

"...Hn…" Sasuke looked off to the side, he didn't appreciate being embarrassed, but even he knew he had been self-absorbed.

"Good, now, let's devise a plan."

*.*.*.*

"Do this as a team, they said. It'll be fine, they said. Don't fucking kill the dobe, they said." Growled Sasuke, how did he get tied up in this? He should have just gone on his own. So what if Sakura looked disappointed in him for even considering it. So what if his chest squeezed uncomfortably at the feeling of that. So what if there was a white hot heat inside his stomach at the thought of Sakura walking away and them not being team seven. This was just down right pathetic. "Stop squirming, dobe!" Sasuke growled, working his hands a little faster to get the kunai through the damned rope that Kakashi had bound Naruto around a pole with.

"Shut up teme and just get me out of this damned thing!" Naruto hissed as he struggled more against the restraints. He couldn't believe this happened, how?! Everything was going perfect and then 'poof', the shit hit the fan and it became a bloody massacre. Thinking about it alone made Naruto want to cry. Yes, Kakashi was a jounin, but that didn't mean he had to be such a bastard and do this to them. Sighing deeply, Sasuke continued cutting at the rope, finally getting irritated enough that he threw the damned thing to the ground, "It's not even sharp!" He bellowed.

"Take the one from my pouch." Naruto grumbled, poking his hip out as much as he could to give Sasuke enough access to his kunai pouch. "Now you tell me you have some?!" Sasuke hissed in annoyance.

"I see you're both still alive." Sakura's voice came from their immediate left, dusting herself off from dirt it seemed.

"Where have you been, Sakura-chan!?" Naruto cried, he thought she had abandoned them and left them on their own.

"I got caught by one of Kakashi's clones when he had ambushed you guys.. He tried to cast me in a genjutsu but I was able to get out of it pretty fast and…" Sakura glanced around, "Hm, I don't feel him here. I thought I did a second ago."

"You can feel chakra?" Naruto asked. Finally Sasuke was done cutting him down and they walked over towards the rosette.

"Yes, can't you?" She asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

*.*.*.*

It was the most interesting thing he had seen in a long time. In his books, the team had already passed - he was only keeping this going because he was honestly interested in seeing if they'd be able to retrieve the bells. They had already gotten pretty damn close twice. He was shocked to say the least. While the Uchiha and Uzumaki were initially what he thought were going to be the ones with most promise, the young girl with pink hair proved to be pretty damn impressive so far. She was an old soul, he could tell already. She thought so logically, way beyond her years of wisdom and held that sort of air that most people didn't achieve their whole lives. She did extraordinary things well without having to pull anything from her academy arsonal. She seemed to be fit to be a leader. He wondered if she would turn out to be a prodigy. She was smart and fast, both in thinking and on her feet. She was able to get out of his genjutsu alarmingly fast for someone who wasn't even a genin yet and was confident in her abilities - which he had yet to see.

He had heard from Iruka that she was great with avoidance - or Aikido, anyway. She used her opponent's power against them, some would argue that it was the strongest form of fighting one could learn. It didn't have a need for chakra or even much strength nor endurance, but it did require a lot of self discipline. He wondered at what age did she start learning that. The fact that she meditated and was able to feel his chakra signature was just as surprising. He wasn't sure what to think of this girl, but she seemed familiar - he could not help but wonder why. He would have to speak with the Hokage and see what he could find out about the young girl.

"Gotcha." The voice surprised him and before he knew it, the young girl was running back to her teammates, holding the bells in her hand happily.

What?

 _What?_

 _How in the actual blue hell did that even just happen?!_

Sakura smiled and gave a bell to each boy and stood between them. "As you may have gotten the bell," Kakashi stated once he snapped out of his confused state, "I mentioned that only two people can pass. Looks like Naruto and Sasuke have a bell each." Kakashi pointed out.

"Well, we've decided that if all three of us cannot pass, then we will all fail together." Sasuke said before Sakura could respond.

"Yea! We just wanted to get the damned bells to prove we could! So what if we fail! In the end, we're winners anyway! We worked together like a team, just like Sakura-chan said we should! We're going to be the best shinobi one day, believe it!" Naruto cheered, earning a smile from both his teammates.

"Well, in that case," Kakashi eyed them, a dark shift in the air made all three students meet his gaze, "You pass!" Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. The three children cheered (correction, Sakura and Naruto cheered and Sasuke just stood there rather awkwardly with his shit eating grin).

"We should go get some ramen as a celebration!" Naruto suggested. Sakura's face looked as if she was ready to gag.

"That stuff isn't good for you." She pointed out, at which point Naruto wilted a little, "But… I guess every once in awhile isn't so bad." She wasn't sure why she couldn't say no to the blonde, but she had a feeling she didn't really want to. Not to him nor Sasuke. Naruto perked right back up and thrust his fist into the air, "We're genin!" He cheered before running toward the Ichiraku.Sakura chuckled a little before grabbing onto the Uchiha's hand and following behind Naruto, calling to Kakashi over her shoulder, "Come on, Kakashi-sensei, we're a team. We should celebrate together!"

What was this? Sasuke was confused, his face flushed when Sakura grabbed his hand as if it was no big deal. As if she did it all the time. The way her hair looked in the dying sunlight and how her eyes sparkled as she smiled, she looked like a goddess. Her hand was so warm and soft for someone who trained so hard. Looking at his two teammates, he knew he made the right choice to stay by their side, and to Sakura, he felt eternally grateful for that.

After the initial shock of it all, Kakashi could not help but feel a bit of pride swell in his chest. Then a little bit of glume, he knew Obito, Rin, Gai, and Genma were going to give him shit for passing his first genin team. He could already hear Gai spouting bullshit about the almighty power of youth. He couldn't help but shudder at the thought. Might aswell enjoy dinner with his team before that.

*.*.*.*

"Okaa-san, I've brought home some friends, I hope that's okay." Sakura said softly as she hugged her mother. They stood in the kitchen while the boys stayed by the entrance to the house.

"Is it your team?" Mebuki asked as she kissed her daughter's forehead.

"Yes, ma-ma."

"Of course it's okay then, they are your second family now. They are going to protect you and stand by your side when I cannot. They are welcome here all the time." Mebuki answered, "All of you go get cleaned up, I'm going to make some tea and some snacks."

"Thank you, okaa-san. I love you." Sakura murmured as she gave her mother one last long hug.

"Love you dear, my baby girl." As Sakura walked to the entrance, Mebuki called over, "Your dad will be home this weekend for a few days. He sent word this afternoon."

Sakura smiled to herself, her week couldn't get any better.

That night, the boys ended up staying over. Mebuki went with them both to their respective houses and requested this. First they went to the Hokage tower to speak with Minato-sama and Kushina-san, to ask if Naruto would be able to stay the night. "It's the weekend, I don't see why not. And I've heard the team passed Kakashi's infamous bell test. Congratulations on being genin. We will be handing out headbands next week in a ceremony. But yes, that's fine with me. As long as Naruto behaves." Minato agreed as Kushina nodded in content beside him.

Next, they went to Sasuke's house - the Uchiha compound - and spoke with his parents. They were both thrilled (well, Mikoto was ecstatic and Fugaku just pretty much said 'well done') that the team had passed They stayed for a bit of time there and the adults talked while the children played in the garden in back of the house. "What's wrong, Sasuke?" Sakura asked when Naruto had wandered inside for some water.

"My nii-san isn't here to hear the great news…" He muttered, kicking the dirt beneath his feet.

"Ah, but it will be a great surprise when he gets back from his mission." Sakura offered with a smile, only making Sasuke nod in agreement, "And I'm sure he'll be so proud to know that you got onto your own team while he was away."

"You're right. Thank you, Sakura."

"It's what family is for." Sakura shrugged.

"You consider us family?" Sasuke asked.

"We will be together for the rest of our lives, or so I hope. We will fight together, bleed together, laugh together, and stand by each other's side. We will have to pick each other up when we are breaking down and pulling each other together when we are falling apart. These are all the things that family does for each other. These are all the things that come from the heart. Family isn't just blood, it's what the heart knows and the spirit feels. We are one - so it's only logical that I consider you guys my family."

He couldn't help but stare at her in wonder, how did she get so smart and get so much wisdom? It was freakish how much she reminded him of his nii-san, Itachi. But, in a way, it was also very comforting, because he knew that just like his brother, Sakura would keep her promises and she meant what she said. That was enough for him. She was his family now too, and so was the dobe (unfortunately).

*.*.*.*

Training the next day was a bastard. Kakashi did not go easy on them. They had D-rank mission after D-rank mission. Pulling weeds, chasing cats, painting fences - you name it, they were doing it. It was nice though, at the end of the day they would be getting paid for all of these rather tedious jobs. It was amazing how Sakura turned everything into a game, though. She made it fun and suddenly it didn't seem so bad. After the first hour of pulling weeds, she suggested there be a competition of sorts as to who could clear their section the fastest. Of course, the boys were on the idea like white on rice and in the end, Sasuke had the smug look on his face and stuck his tongue out at the blonde. "What does he win?" Naruto asked.

"We'll figure that out later. You can think on it for the day and tell me what you think you earned." Sakura suggested, and at first it didn't sound like much but then Sasuke thought about it and agreed, he could practically asked for whatever he wanted - within reason, of course.

With the painting, they ended up having a paint fight after the fence was done and the cat chase was the funniest, especially when Naruto fell out of a tree and lost his pants to a tree branch and when Sasuke's face got clawed at by the cat and ended up dropping it, earning a rather long and obnoxious yelling match between the two males of the team while Sakura sat by and just stroked the cat who calmly joined her and fell asleep on her lap.

At the end of the day, after they'd been paid and shooed out of the Hokage's office, Naruto suggested going to get ramen (predictable, eh?), which Sakura politely declined. "My father is home for a few days, he got back today. I barely get to see him. I'll make sure you guys meet him before he goes." She explained before Naruto could start pouting. Naruto and Sasuke traded glances before saying goodnight to their only female teammate.

When she arrived home, Sakura kicked off her shoes and glanced around. "My love." Came a smooth voice from the entrance of the kitchen.

"Otōsan!" Cried Sakura as she launched herself into her father's arms. Sometimes he forgot his daughter was still a child, in spite of how grown up she acted a good 97% of the time. "I miss you so, so much!" She whispered into his chest as he held her.

"I know, my love. I have very important business that must be attended to and I will be home as frequently as I can. This I promise." The man stated, Haruno Kizashi kept his promises and so Sakura knew he would follow through. "Okaa-san tells me you passed your genin test and that you have Hatake as a sensei as well as the Uchiha and Uzumaki children as teammates."

"Ah, yes. I do. I don't think Kakashi remembers me." Sakura said as she sat down beside her father for dinner after giving her mother a hug. Usually Mebuki would have Sakura wash up, especially after training, but she couldn't help but melt at the sight of her daughter with her dad.

"He will, with time. Just wait. Besides, it isn't the end of the world. They'll be less to explain." Kizashi stated as he sipped his tea, earning a nod from his daughter.

"Have you been training with what I've been sending you?" Kizashi questioned.

"Yes, thank you for all the scrolls and books. I love the swords so much! I practice with them every day!" The swords in question were two twin swords that responded to the wielder's chakra. These particular swords were bonded to Sakura and so they only responded to her's, while sucking away anyone who dared touch them. They were two blue twin blades that at their hilts came together and turned into a lance with two very sharp ends to it. The hilts themselves were retractable to accommodate for both long and short range battles. They were the best gift Sakura had ever received and were her first weapons aside from her basics such as kunai and what have you.

Kizashi nodded in content, "I will have to watch you train then." He said softly as he looked down at his daughter, pride and love shining bright within his eyes.

The rest of the night, the family relaxed and talked, Kizashi asking Sakura questions about school and her teammates, whom she made clear he would meet before he left. Sakura in turn asked her father about his travels and what he'd seen so far, she knew he was on a mission that was classified and could not give much detail, but he gave what he could and she was more than happy for that.

That night, Sakura fell asleep with a warm heart and happy dreams.

She had her family together in one village, and that was more than she could ever ask for.

*.*.*.*

 **Author's note:**

 **I apologize if this was a bit boring, but I didn't want to keep moving so fast so I tried bringing it back down a bit. Hope this came out as good as it did in my head. At any rate, hope you all enjoy.**

 **Much love**


	4. Chapter 4

He knew them somehow, but how? Where and when had he met them before? Why did they seem so familiar? The questions plagued his mind as he watched his sole female student stand by her father whom chatted with his two male students. She looked at him as if he put the stars in the sky and as if he were the answer to every miracle known to man. Kakashi knew Sakura seemed familiar, but now it really dawn on him, he was sure now, he'd met them before. While her father did not have her signature pink hair, the two were almost identical. Kizashi had bright emerald eyes and his hair was a pale blond that was held up in a high bun, a cleanly shaven beard adorned the man's face and his body was the epitome of what a shinobi should look like – strong and lean, his muscles hidden not to subtly beneath a black shirt, his green vest only partially zipped up and his legs clad in tight black pants. He was wearing a jonin vest which only confused the silver haired man even more. How was this man, a stranger to the village (as far as he knew) a jonin? It was driving him crazy, he would have to speak with Minato, and soon. The confusion and curiosity was pissing him off.

*.*.*.*

"I have to go now, my love." The words were said softly as he held tightly onto his daughter. The days had gone by fairly fast and now father and daughter had to say goodbye. Her mother and her team gave them room to speak, all of them standing by the gates to bid farewell to the man. "I am so proud of you, I hope you know that, and I love you so damn much. I will do my best to visit more frequently. Take care of your mother." Sakura could barely speak, it was as if the words were clogged in her throat.

"I will, I'll take care of okaa-san.. and I'll continue to make you proud. I love you, papa!" She croaked, her voice cracking from the tears she was refusing to shed. Sakura may act like a grown up a majority of the time, but she was still a child and he knew this more than anyone. Sakura was an old soul – always so understanding and observant, always being the voice of reason and the strength in the household in her father's absence. She took on more than any child should, and for that he was both very thankful but very upset about, he should be there raising her, not having her practically raise herself. He was so very thankful to have such an amazing and understanding wife and daughter who stood beside him and supported everything he did.

All he did was for his family, to keep them safe and to make sure they did not have to see more than what they'd already been exposed to. Yes, his wife and he were ninja, but he wanted Sakura to have a different path in life, he wanted her to find peace, that was why he brought them to Konoha. That is why he did what he did and left them in a village that would take care of them, where they could seek refuge and asylum. But, he also knew his daughter well and knew she would not choose the ordinary life of a civilian – at this he felt both pride and worry. He knew his daughter was a prodigy, just as he was, and some part of him wished she wouldn't be especially when she would awake...

He felt tears on his neck, his eyes widening, for the first time in years, she was crying. "I just miss you so much when you leave.." She whispered, "Sometimes I don't know if I can do this without you." He had to go, because if he watched his daughter break, his last bit of resolve would dissipate and he would stay, and they could not afford him to stay – not yet, not with those monsters still on the loose. Not with the threat still at large.

"I will be back, my love."

Those were the last words he left his broken hearted daughter as he walked out the village gates and into the darkness of night. "Sakura..." Her mother said softly... And then it happened, the most heart wrenching cry that any of them had ever heard ripped from the rosette's lips. She cried so hard her body shook and her breathing was erratic. Mebuki's eyes were huge, she had never seen, let alone hear her daughter cry so hard. All three men looked at each other with wide eyes, none knew what to do – it was apparent on Mebuki's face that something like this has never happened. Finally, when Sakura calmed down and fell asleep from exhaustion, Kakashi picked the girl up and gestured for Mebuki to lead the way to her home. She was grateful and walked slowly home, her own tears streaming down her face. Her heart was broken for her daughter, yes she missed and feared for her husband, but she worried gravely about the child in her sensei's arms.

"Sakura has never reacted like that, never." Mebuki said softly after Kakashi placed the girl in her bed and joined the woman in her living room. The boys escorted themselves home when they'd ran into Sasuke's older brother and cousin. With a worried looked traded between them, the boys waved goodbye and left – Mebuki and Kakashi felt it was best to give the rosette space.

"I've met you all before." It wasn't a question.

"Yes." Mebuki answered, her sapphire eyes giving away just how exhausted she was. Mebuki was a beautiful woman, her red (borderline pink) hair was cut in a bob at her chin and her eyes were a beautiful sapphire blue. Her body was nothing to scoff at, one could tell she was also a shinobi, even after rearing a child and not being on active duty, the woman looked as ready to pounce on some unfortunate soul as much as the next shinobi would. Kakashi almost wondered if there were any Uzumaki blood in the Haruno lineage.

Kakashi looked at the woman expectantly, "I'll make us some tea, please make yourself at home." Kakashi scratched the back of his head but did so anyway regardless of the slight awkwardness, he was going to get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing he did.

"We are refugees." Her voice was soft, hidden with some sort of pain. "Where we're from, our lineage, we are nomads. We move around place to place – like gypsies, we have no real homes. We travel village to village, seeking shelter for a few months, maybe even years depending on the clan, then uproot once more. In exchange, we give our help to the surrounding areas. We help with crops and food, we help with medicine and healing. Our lineage has excellent chakra control and other capabilities, they are hard to list seeing as each Haruno clan has their own specialties as they collect people as they go and have never inbred. Even the earliest of our ancestors outsourced, never breeding within our clan, I guess even back then they knew there were some kinds of risks to inbreeding. Our line is clean, each generation with stronger power than the last. The only thing we have in common is our perfect chakra control, which would make sense why many of our clansmen, regardless of the clan, are medics or some form of healer." Mebuki looked down at her cup.

"You have to understand, we never hurt people unless we absolutely have to. We only do it to defend, I have never known any clansman from any of the Haruno clans to hurt another being without it being due to defense." Mebuki said with a stone cold voice, one that ran a chill up Kakashi's spine. "It is not unheard of for the idea of ostracizing a member from the clan if that were to happen. It is also not unheard of for people to take advantage of our clan members or our abilities to suit their whims and needs, hence why we move around so much." Running a hand through her hair, Mebuki continued, "Kizashi, I'm sure you can figure out, is not originally a Haruno. He converted to one of us before he and I wed and took our clan's last name to shed the name of his forefathers. He did not want to carry a name with so much blood and revenge. He has never been and will never be the man his father was nor the father before him." Mebuki choked a bit, a tear slipping down her cheek at the memory of their wedding, "He is a prodigy. His family line also has many different traits – Kizashi developed many of his while he was just a child, before ever even becoming a genin.

"In the world he grew up in, with a family like his, it was the only way of survival. My husband is not a cruel man, he is a pacifist and only does what he does because he needs to protect us." Shaking her head, "I myself have certain abilities, and excuse me for not sharing them with you. The Hokage is aware of what they are and this is why he has allowed us asylum." Kakashi nodded in understanding, he knew whatever it was, was being kept a secret for a reason. "As to your statement, we have met. We've met a couple of times. You probably do not remember because one of the effects of the healing from some of our clansman is distortion of the mind. They keep people from remembering us when there was chaos, to keep the secrets of our abilities as much a secret as possible."

Kakashi took in the information, so he had met them a few times and didn't remember because he was made not to. He wanted to be angry, but some part of him (the logical part) could understand wanting to keep their family safe and going to whatever measures to assure that happened – he did it all the time for his village.

"You were wounded during a mission. Kizashi found you on the way back from his own mission and brought you and your team to our small homestead. It was one of our many temporary residencies and my people patched up your team. You stayed with us for a few months, in which it seemed as though the lot of you had been poisoned by some sort of nasty chemical. It took us a while to get you back to your feet because at some point there was nothing else we could do, whatever was left had to be flushed out of your systems. Two of your teammates became delusional and we almost lost one of them several times to their fever, but myself and one other clansman stayed by your team's side to assure your recovery." Kakashi had bits and pieces of memory flashing through his mind, clawing at him to remember.

"It would be another two years that you would stumble upon us, you seemed to sort of remember us, as you do now, and we took care of one of your dying teammates, Obito I think his name was, and Itachi – the young man with you – had some sort of lung infection that would have caused him a long and painful life of suffering before killing him in a few years, if he made it that far. My father healed that and made sure it would never come back." She smiled that the memory. "You met Sakura for the first time, then. She took to you so fast, I was astonished. Sakura did not trust easily as a child, yet you were different. She took to the other two, Itachi and Obito as well. Itachi humored me and played with her while he was being healed and Obito took care of her when Itachi was down for the count after a particularly heavy healing session. You and my husband were two peas in a pod." She chuckled at that memory too.

" _I know my daughter is in good hands."_ The words bubbled up in his mind, it was something Kizashi had said before he left, when the children were training while he was home. It was as if there were no doubts the man could trust Kakashi with his child. As if he trusted him with one of the only treasures he held in life. This made something inside him stir, he now felt indebted to these people and felt rather guilty for feeling suspicious of them at first – regardless of it was rational at the time.

Shaking her head, Mebuki continued, "The next time you saw us..." The air changed almost instantly, "The village we had been staying in was under attack by an especially nasty group of rogue nin.. They killed men, women, and children alike – shinobi or no. They didn't care. I lost most of my clan that day, my father included. We had come across one of your Konoha people in the cross hairs that led us back to this village when they were able to finally help us get from the siege."

Mebukie bit her lip, "We don't know who they were, and that's what my husband is doing now, trying to find them and seek revenge so that those people never do to others what we witnessed that day. We met with your Hokage and he heard our story, he apparently had met many Haruno in his travels and knew of us, so he let us in without question, however, for our peace of mind, Hizashi requested they search our minds to make sure they _knew_ that without a reason of a doubt, that we were not here as spies or to sabotage this village in any means. We became active shinobi the moment we were inducted as Konoha people and we lent our abilities to the village every chance we could. Kizashi was made jonin and was allowed to travel freely to find the people who did this to us... but there is something more."

Kakashi stood straight at this, he felt like this was what it all came down to, "As you can tell, Sakura is also a prodigy. She is smarter than most children, hell, than most adults. She is stronger than some chuunin I've met and even some jonin from some of the villages we've been to. Don't let her fool you into thinking otherwise, she picks and chooses her battles, she is no fool." This somehow did not shock Kakashi, he has felt as though the rosette was holding back during their trainings and from Iruka, he was told the man felt the same way. "There is a prophet that one of our clansman would be reincarnated. She was one of the original Haruno, she was the first. It is said she had the powers of a goddess, the prowess of a demon, and the heart of an angel. She would take life just as fast as she could give it. The prophecy was always just a story we told to our children so they would train hard and give those around them their love just as much as they were willing to defend themselves. The prophecy tells of a child that would hold the soul of this woman, and she would help us enter the age of enlightenment. She would stop wars and strive for peace because it is the Haruno way to be one with the world and to go with what life gives us."

"Aikido." It made sense, Kakashi realized, "Go with the energy your opponent gives you instead of fighting it."

A small smile found Mebuki's lips, "As you can see, it doesn't seem so far fetched now. Sakura is a peaceful person, a pacifist in her own right who will fight tooth and nail to protect those she cares about. She follows in her clan's footsteps when it comes to that." She mused dryly.

"Has she shown any signs of what her power could be?" Kakashi found himself asking, this caused the woman to hesitate for a moment, "No, and that's what scares me." This caused Kakashi to look at her oddly.

"Usually, by now people in our clan have "awakened" whatever their ability may be. Yes, her chakra control is near on perfect and I have been teaching her healing slowly as her coils are still small as she is just a child, but other than that... Nothing. I feel as though it will come in a time of duress, and it scares me a bit... No one knows what exactly our high priestess, our original leader was capable of. No one knows what her power was or what sort of abilities she had. There have been rumors, but no one actually _knows_. I'm afraid she will awaken and shit will hit the fan, quite frankly." Kakashi could see the fear in that, it was either she could have no abilities, or rather strong abilities that could awaken at the mighty wrong time and she could put herself and or others in jeopardy without knowing how to hone whatever ability it may be. He could see why Mebuki worried so much about this.

"I will keep her safe, I promise you that." Kakashi finally said as he let it all sink in. The air around them was thick with pain and the fear of the unknown, the fear of a mother losing her child to the world that could want to exploit whatever the young girl had to offer.

After a few more hours of talking, the two retired for the night and Kakashi left home, he had much to think about and had to figure out how to make sure he'd be there for Sakura's awakening – should it ever happen.

*.*.*.*

"Sakura-chan, where have you been!? You missed training today!" Naruto cried, launching himself at the rosette. She smiled softly and hugged the boy back, "Sorry. Okaa-san spoke with Kakashi-sensei and they both felt it was better if I had the day off after... yesterday. I ran into Shikamaru and we played a few rounds of Shogi, he was a rather worthy opponent." She chuckled softly.

"You hung out with that lazy ass Nara?" Naruto yelled, Sasuke giving a silent look of displeasure as well.

"Now now, I'm allowed to have other friends as well, don't be jealous you guys." Sakura laughed lightly, "It was nice to get out of my own head for a bit." She said, her eyes looking down. "About yesterday, I'm sorry you guys had to see that, I'm never like that..." Her face was dusted pink with embarrassment. The two waved her apology off.

"This dobe cries if his dad or mom doesn't get him ramen, at least you had an actual reason to be upset." Sasuke offered.

"Shut the hell up, teme!" Naruto growled, glaring at the Uchiha who only shot one back. Shaking her head, she couldn't help but laugh, "Very well, I see your point."

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined, "Don't agree with that teme!"

"Oh! Before we forget! We're going on a real life mission! Its more like a baby sitting job, but we get to go out of the village!" Naruto cheered, this perked the rosette up a bit, "Thought that'd make you happy. Dad gave in after Kakashi-sensei guilt tripped him some how. We're heading out tomorrow, we're meeting by the gates before dawn!"

"So... around lunch?" Sakura chirped, earning a loud laugh from the blonde, they all knew the silver haired man was notorious for being late.

"I'll be there." Sakura nodded. The three headed home as they talked with each other, only separating when Sakura was at her stairs and the boys went their own ways.

"We have our first mission." Sakura offered her mother.

"Oh?" Mebuki perked up.

"Hmmm.. Yes, some sort of baby sitting job, I'm sure I'll get the details tomorrow before we leave." Sakura answered back as she hugged her mom.

"Right, well, then go get washed up and we'll have dinner. I'll help you pack for the morning." Mebuki smiled, some fear swelling deep inside her at the idea of Sakura being out of the village, but she knew it was bound to happen.

"Okay." Sakura hummed in response before heading towards her room.

Her sweet, sweet daughter was unaware of what the future held for her if that prophecy were true and Mebuki wished she could protect her from it, but she knew it would happen regardless of what they did to prepare – so she waited and watched as her daughter grew and only hoped she could be there should she awaken.

*.*.*

 **Author's note: Okay, so don't hate me for such an abrupt ending to this chapter. Also, I want to make it clear, I will not be making Sakura some sort of goddess or anything, she will still have flaws and she will still have weaknesses. She will still be her, just stronger. I'm sorry for the lack of Itachi/Sakura action going on, at least you guys got a small teaser! At any rate, it will probably be a rather slow progression where all my other stories are pretty much right into it. I'm just trying something new.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you guys think, I hope its enjoyable. I will try to give more insight on Sakura as a person so people don't start to think I'm making her out to be this perfect person or anything.**

 **Much love.**


	5. Chapter 5

How did this happen? It was supposed to be a simple escorting mission. Take the bridge builder to the damn village or bridge or whatever and suddenly, they were attack by rogue nin and somewhere along the way, Naruto and Kakashi got pulled aside.

He stood frozen as his eyes stared at the girl before him, her arms were shaking from the force of the huge sword of their enemy against her own twin swords. Her rose colored hair and body were stuck to her like glue from either sweat or water - probably both. The man above her watched the girl with amusement in his eyes, "Interesting. Such a small girl with such an amazing display of power." Murmured the man.

Flashes of something pierced his mind.

 _Wisps of rose colored hair in disarray clouded his vision as she stood before him, her arms shaking as she kept the enemy at bay. A scream ripped from her throat as she pushed back._

"Sasuke!" Her voice brought him back to here and now. "Don't worry, I'll protect us." Her words were soft, even under the threat of death so imminent. His eyes darkened, "We're family. I've got this." She turned her head to him over her shoulder, blood spilling from her lips as she gave him a weak smile. He could see the shimmering emerald in her eyes slowly dulling.

"Get away from my friends, asshole!" Screamed a voice from somewhere in the fog. There, amongst the thickness of it all, stood Naruto in his orange clad glory next to a rather run down looking Kakashi. His lone eye was wide at the scene before him. His lone female student was going head on with Momochi Zabuza, the nin known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

The whole thing was a momentary distraction for the girl with the twin blades that were covered in a thin film of soft green chakra. It was just enough for the man to overpower her and slice his sword in the crook of her shoulder blade and neck, no doubt breaking her collarbone and shoulder blade in the process. An angry scream came from the girl and the world seemed to freeze when her own blade made the plunge.

White began to bleed Crimson, but so did onyx. "Haku..." The words were whispered as the young nin smiled softly at the girl. "It's okay, this is what I wanted." Her eyes were wide and the man behind him stood still, taking in the words and the scene.

Before he could react, Kakashi was on him, Naruto in tow. It didn't take long for Sasuke to join them and overpower the demon. Sakura stood back, slowly making her way to the bridge builder, "You're going to have some very angry men.." she murmured before her vision turned black.

When she awoke, it hurt to breathe and it felt as though she'd been hit by a truck. The first thing her mind registered was the pain, then her surroundings. Snapping up, she bit back a yelp of pain as her eyes flickered around the room. "You're awake." Came a tired voice. Kakashi walked forward, placing a tray next to the bed she sat on.

"Naruto. Sasuke.. they're.."

"Fine. They're fine. It's you we're worried about. You gave us a little bit of a scare there." Kakashi mused dryly.

"Where are they?" She asked, sitting back now.

"I had to threaten them in order for them to leave the room. They haven't left your side this whole time." Kakashi answered.

"How long have I..."

"Four days now. Guess you were tired." Kakashi answered, his voice serious. "What were you thinking? Taking on someone like Zabuza?" He growled, "You were reckless, you could have gotten killed. You could have ran. You should have ran."

"But I didn't and we're alive. Sasuke is alive. That's what matters. We are shinobi, the good of our comrades come before anything. Those who break rules are scum. Those who leave their friends behind are worse than scum. You told us that. Yes, I could have ran, but Sasuke would be dead right now if I did." Sakura shot back, anger boiling in her blood.

Kakashi stared at the young woman, he couldn't believe she remembered that. He had said that the first time they had dinner together as a team when the boys went into detail about the speech Sakura had given them during the bell test. He explained how right the blossom was, that putting your own needs ahead of your team or village was bullshit and leaving a teammate behind would equate to being worse than scum. "Breaking the rules makes you scum, leaving your friends behind makes you worse than scum." Those very words were being echoed back to him and he felt a twist of pride and some fear about how strong this child was. At that moment, with her arms raised, hands holding those twin blades with such determination in her eyes. He understood now why her parents worried about her so much, she was so selfless, to the point that it would mean her own life.

 _"My goal is to be strong enough to protect those who are precious to me."_ The words whispered in his head and he knew now that she had meant the words she'd said. Every single one of them.

Something then occurred to him, "Sakura, that was your first kill.."

"Sasuke has his Sharingan now, doesn't he." It wasn't a question. She had totally sidestepped his words in favor of worrying about her teammate.

"How do you..." Sakura gave him a look and something told him not to bother asking. "Right, well, I'll go get the boys. I'm sure they'll be more than thrilled to see that you're awake." As he went to leave, he turned to Sakura, "I hope you know, Sakura, that you can come to me if you need to. We are family after all."

*.*.*.

He stood there in the doorway, his onyx eyes watching as Sakura gave Naruto a good natured (albeit tired) smile as he talked with such gusto. He was going on and on about how badass she was and how they kicked ass and how he knew now he'd be a damn good Hokage and maybe Sakura could be his left hand lady. Sakura chuckled a few times, the stare she received from the Uchiha was not lost on her. "I have to use the bathroom!" Naruto almost yelled, running out of the room past Sasuke.

He slowly entered the room and sat on the bed beside his teammate. "How are you doing?" Sakura asked him softly.

Sasuke scoffed, " _I_ should be asking _you_ that."

Sakura shrugged with her good shoulder, "I'm alive. You're alive. We're all alive. That's what matters."

"Why..." The words wouldn't come out of his mouth. The look in her eyes when she had smiled at him with blood coming from her lips. The feeling that shot through him when he saw her lying on the ground motionless in a pool of her own blood.

"We're family. You, me, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei... we're family. I know you'd all do the same for me. We have each other's backs. That's what it's supposed to be like." She answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Her eyes went wide when the Uchiha grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, careful of her wounds. "You stupid, stupid girl.." He murmured against her hair. Sakura hugged him back and smiled to herself. Slowly, the two pulled away, "Hey, now you have another thing to show your nii-san." Sakura mused. It took Sasuke a moment to realize she had been talking about the sharingan. "I guess you're right." Sasuke finally answered.

*.*.*

"You have to push the chakra to your feet and concentrate it there. Not too much, you'll damage the tree and hurt yourself. Too little and you'll fall. You need just enough." Sakura explained, showing them as she slowly walked up the tree. It was understandable that Naruto would have a hard time with this exercise, he had so much chakra that it was probably hard to focus just enough of it in one place. Sasuke, on the other hand, was just not getting the idea of focusing chakra. Fire based techniques were easy to him, moving fast and defending himself and being able to attack were all a walk in the park, but this was not his slice of pie. Sakura had perfect chakra control, surprising the boys slightly once again. She had surprised them with her display against Zabuza and it worried them a little how she was acting as if nothing happened. As if she hadn't gone head on towards one of the nine swords men, as if she hadn't almost died. As if she hadn't made her first kill. They thought about chalking up to adrenaline, about Sakura acting in the moment fueled by adrenaline and fear, but the truth was none of them really knew the extent of the rosette's abilities. It was unfortunate to have to get a peek of them during such an intense time.

When she grew tired from overexertion, Sakura wondered back to the house where Kakashi was resting. He had given them instructions and left them to the small training of chakra control, which he knew Sakura would be able to do in a heartbeat. He wanted to wait until Sakura was feeling a bit better before they headed back to Konoha. "You look like shit." Kakashi mused before messing up the girl's hair. Sakura pouted a bit and stuck out her tongue, "You're not looking so hot yourself." Sakura shot back as she sat beside him. "I'm ready to go home." Sakura said after a bit of silence.

"Think you'd be able to travel like that?" Kakashi asked, he could tell the girl was still rather weak and tired, but he could also tell she was feeling homesick. The last few days she'd been looking rather run down, her mood was melancholy and she was not as interested in training as she usually would be. He was worried about how maybe her first kill was bothering her more than she was letting on. She had been waking up with cold sweats and screaming in the middle of the night, only falling asleep when one or both the boys lie beside her and held her hand. It broke his heart, they were still just children. She was still just a child and she had killed without a choice, it was fight or flight and she chose to fight. He knew they had chosen this path, the one of a shinobi, but he was hoping none of them would have to deal with that sort of thing for a long while.

"Yeah.."

"Alright, we'll head out first thing in the morning when the bridge has finished being built. You, get some rest. I'll go make sure the guys don't kill each other."

*.*.*.*

After almost two months of being away from the village, the three genin almost cried when they saw the green gates of Konoha. "Hey, before you all scuddle home, we have to give our mission debrief to the Hokage." Kakashi stated, causing the three to frown.

It took all the strength the blonde haired male had to keep his eye from twitching. It was supposed to be a simple D- rank mission, maybe C, tops! How the hell did it become a S-rank? "Good job guys, I'll make sure you all get paid for an S-rank, since that's pretty much what this turned into." His eyes shot over to Hatake before turning back to the three genin. "Go ahead, go home. I'm sure all of your parents will be happy to see you. Naruto, go see your mom, she's been insufferable lately without you around. Hatake, I'd like a word with you." With a quick hug, Naruto did as told, leaving Sasuke and Sakura to walk towards their own and Hatake to stay behind in the office.

He knew what was coming, but it didn't mean he was looking forward to it. "Why did you not send word?! Why didn't you send for backup? And Sakura?! She made a kill, Kakashi. Her first kill. She could have awakened!" Ah, so he did know.

"I know, okay? I know.." The resignation in his voice made Minato feel slightly guilty. This was the man's first genin, he had to give the guy a break, he knew, but the threat of Sakura awakening worried, things could have gone from bad to worse in a heartbeat.

"I'm worried about her." Hatake went on to tell Minato about what had been happening with her, the night sweats and the waking up screaming in the middle of the night.

"Should we have her examined?" Minato asked, watching Hatake intently.

"I don't know, honestly. Maybe we should keep an eye on her for now. I have a feeling her mother will be able to deal with it. If not, then maybe Yamanaka-san will have to step in."

"Very well, we'll keep an eye on her for now."

*.*.*.*

"Sakura?" Mebuki's voice was heard from the kitchen. She walked into the living room just in time for Sakura to hug her tightly, tears warming her shirt. "Sakura? Sakura, what's wrong?" Mebuki asked, concern clear in her voice now.

"I… I killed someone." She whispered, causing her mother's blood to turn to ice. "I killed him without even thinking and I didn't really even feel bad after it…. But all I can dream about is his blood on my hands and the look in his eyes, now. All I can hear is his heart stopping and that smile on his lips.. Okaa-san, what did I do? What kind of monster am I?"

"You're not a monster, you're a shinobi." Mebuki said after some time, "You will have to do these things in order to protect your precious people. Your village. Yourself. I wish you didn't have to do such a thing so soon, but you need to understand…. Those people out there don't care how old you are, they don't care where you're from or who you are. If they want you dead, they will do whatever they can to make that happen. I know it hurts, but you are a Haruno and while we are compassionate and loving beings, we are also strong willed and we do what we need to in order to protect who we love. We take what we are given and give it back."

"Aikido." Sakura murmured,

"Aikido." Mebuki answered back.

*.*.*.*

"Sasuke!" Mikoto cried, launching herself at her youngest son.

"Okaa-san." He answered softly, hugging his mother back.

"I am so glad you're okay!" Mikoto hugged the poor boy tighter, "You worried me so much!" She wailed.

"I'm sorry, okaa-san."

"Otōto?" A deeper voice said behind the dark haired woman.

"Nii-san." Sasuke answered, hugging his brother as well.

"Looks like you have something you need to get off your chest."

That's the first time he really opened up to his family about his team, about the whole mission and about Sakura. Both his mother and brother listening intently, Itachi was actually pretty impressed. This young girl not only saved his foolish little brother's life, but she also stood toe to toe with the Demon of the Mist. His brother had his own team with the Kyuubi and a girl with pink hair and his sharingan has awakened. Looks like he missed quite a bit while he was away.

"I think we should have your team over for dinner." Mikoto said after a bit of silence, "If you're family, then they should come over a bit more. You've already spent a few nights at Sakura-chan's house and Naruto-kun's house. I think they should come here sometimes too."

"Naruto practically lives here half the time… But yes, I'll invite them tomorrow.." Sasuke agreed, not like he could say no to his mother even if he wanted to.

When they went to bed that night, Itachi stopped by Sasuke's room. "Nii-san?" Sasuke asked, sitting up on his bed.

"Otōto," Itachi smiled, "I'm proud of you, you know."

"But why? I didn't even do anything. Sakura saved me. I just stood behind her and watched as she almost died."

"You've learned what it means to be a team, there are some shinobi who go their whole lives not knowing what that means. You've learned how to stand beside someone, and I have no doubt that you will stand beside your team. Yes, Sakura saved you, but something tells me that you saved her as well." Sasuke wasn't sure what that meant, but he figured Itachi kept it to himself on purpose.

"Goodnight, Otōto." Itachi said softly, poking his brother in the middle of his forehead before heading out of the room.

"You'll be here tomorrow? To meet my team?" Of course, he knew Sasuke meant Sakura seeing as Naruto practically lived at their house most of the time.

"Of course."

*.*.*

"Itachi!" Cheered Shisui from his seat beside Genma, Obito, Rin, and Kakashi.

Itachi gave a nod and sat beside Obito who sat across Genma and Kakashi, beside Rin.

"Hatake tells me my youngest cousin was saved by a girl with pink hair!" Shisui smiled broadly, "She sounds pretty awesome!" Rin rolled her eyes and Obito chucked a bit. Kakashi remained silent, a haunted look in his eyes. Yes, on paper it sounded amazing. A prodigy in the making. But, in reality, it was rather scary.

"His team is coming by for dinner tomorrow." Itachi said after sometime, "I can ask okaa-san if you can join us. I'm sure you're just as interested as I."

"Hell yes! And I get to have aunt Mikoto's cooking?! My night just keeps looking better."

"You haven't even met them yet." Rin pointed out.

"Well, I've met Naruto already. He practically lives at the compound, but you're right, I haven't met the blossom of team 7 yet." Mused Shisui.

"Well, now you will." Obito said simply.

"She might seem familiar…" Kakashi said cryptically to Obito and Itachi, causing the two to look at him oddly. "You'll see what I mean. You too, Shisui."

*.*.*.*

They were training when the older Uchiha arrived. Sakura was standing across from Naruto as she held onto her wounded shoulder, they were both breathing heavily. "Sakura-chan!" He whined, "This isn't fun anymore, your hits actually hurt!"

"No shit, dobe! It's training, not playing around!" Sasuke growled, appearing behind the blonde and kicking him in the back, tossing him into a tree.

"Bastard!" Naruto screamed as he ran towards Sasuke after getting back up.

Before Naruto could get to him, however Sakura kicked the Kyuubi to the opposite direction, appearing behind him and kicking him again, this time right into the young Uchiha, sending them both into a heap on the ground.

The two men glared at each other.

"Truce?" Naruto growled.

"Truce." Sasuke agreed.

To say the whole scene was amusing would be an understatement. The two older Uchiha stood on the sidelines seemingly unnoticed by the three. "That's no fair, ganging up on a injured girl like that." Shisui called, making the boys falter in their movements for a moment. Looking at each other, they shrugged and went charging at the rosette full speed. Just as it looked as though they had caught her, her body disappeared in a poof of smoke, being replaced by a log. The elder Uchiha traded looks, just what did they teach in the academy nowadays. Behind them, Sakura appeared, grabbing the young Uchiha by the scruff of his neck (cringing silently at the protest her wounds were giving her) and threw him towards the opposite side of the field and kicking Naruto in the other direction. It was weird, the girl wasn't really attacking them, just pretty much side stepping them and using their momentum against them. She moved so gracefully, like liquid. No, like a flowing river. She was strong but calm, moving with the current rather than against it. The fact that she was still wounded from their mission and decided to train regardless impressed them a bit further.

"You're noticing that too?"

"Hn." Itachi murmured in agreement.

Kakashi was right though, she did seem familiar to them both, but how? One would think they would remember pink hair if they'd ever come across it before, but they were not sure if they had.

"No fair, Sakura-chan! Your dad taught you some cool stuff!" Naruto cried, rubbing his back as he got up. When they rounded up, Sakura used her minimal amount of knowledge when it came to healing to heal the boys, clearing them of their minor cuts and bruises. This, of course, further surprised the two cousins. While she seemed tired, they could tell she had been holding back. When she was satisfied, she sat down and focused on the bruised ribs she knew she had when she had pulled a punch and gave an opening for Sasuke. Her jaw was pretty sore from when Naruto clocked her and the wound on her shoulder was screaming to be taken care of. "Sakura, what about your shoulder?! Shouldn't you heal that instead?" Naruto asked, pointing at the bandaged area. Sakura shrugged it off.

"Not a big deal." Shaking her head she turned to the two men she had noticed earlier, it had been hard to miss them after one of them had shouted about the unfairness of the guys going up against one injured girl. Bowing politely to them, it was obvious which one was Sasuke's older brother.

"So rude of you, Sasuke-chan, not introducing us to your teammate." Shisui teased causing the younger Uchiha to glare.

"That's Shisui, not that it matters, and this is my Nii-san, Itachi." Sasuke stated, motioning to the two men, causing Shisui to pout. Now that she was up close, both men could not refuse it, she was familiar but neither of them could remember how.

"Shisui-san, Itachi-san." Sakura bowed politely once more.

"This is Sakura." Sasuke said suddenly, "Don't bow to Shisui, he's not that important."

Before Shisui could complain, Sakura shot Sasuke a look, making the boy pout after a long moment of her stare. "Sorry…. Shisui…." Both men raised their eyebrows.

Mikoto called out for everyone to get washed up as dinner was ready. Sakura excused herself to head to the bathroom to shower and change, followed by a chattering Naruto. All three Uchiha stared at each other. "No. Whatever either of you are going to say, just no." Sasuke growled.

"Dear little cousin, whatever do you mean?"

"I know that look, and no. I don't like her." Sasuke growled, "And no, I don't want you bothering her. Stay away. Far, far away." He mainly stared at Shisui while he said this, pushing past the two to get inside.

"You were holding back." Itachi stated suddenly when chatter had died down during dinner. Sakura looked up, guilt hidden in her deep emerald eyes. He hadn't noticed before because they had only met briefly outside, but throughout the dinner, he was able to study her subtly. Her pink hair was braided over her shoulder and she wore a red vest with a white sleeved shirt beneath it and black spandex shorts. Her eyes were warm throughout the whole dinner and she was practically glowing anytime either of her teammates spoke to her or when Mikoto engaged her in conversation. She even humored Shisui throughout dinner with answering his odd questions.

"Eh?" Sasuke and Naruto looked at Itachi in confusion.

Sakura hung her head for a moment before giving a hesitant nod.

Both boys glared at her hotly, "You held back!?" They all but shouted.

"You both know I prefer…"

"Going with the flow, we know! But you never really fight anyone, not before nor since Zabuza!" Naruto knew he had crossed the line when Sakura's eyes snapped to him, the warmth in her eyes far gone and replaced with cold hard gems. "Yes, and look how that ended up." She said curtly, making both boys look down in shame of their pestering.

"Let's spar. Not right now, but soon." The words left Itachi's mouth before he could even think about it, causing everyone to stare at him in shock. Once they were out, though, he couldn't say that he wanted to take them back.

"Okay." Sakura agreed, her eyes warm once more.

If no one had bug eyes before, they sure did now.

*.*.*.*

 **Author's note: I hope this was not a lot at once. I skipped over a few things and went for the meat. I know I just skimmed the surface, I don't want anyone to think I am going to just gloss right over the fact that Sakura killed someone, there will be more ripples to the girl because of this, just watch for it. I promise not to jump right into the Sakura/Itachi thing, I will try to be as believable as possible. At any rate, I hope you all enjoy this and I apologize for my shitty fight scenes, I try to go to the feeling of it rather than the actual fight, I hope that makes sense and comes across.**

 **Anywho, much love**.


	6. Chapter 6

Her shoulder was killing her. Mebuki had offered several times to heal it for her, but Sakura refused each time, because it was a reminder. It was a reminder of her weakness. The pain didn't just stop at her shoulder, it was everywhere. It spread to the hair on her head, to the bones in her body, to the heart in her chest and the soul inside her... it was a constant reminder of her weakness.

Her nights were filled with restless dreams, her hands always lathered in blood, there was so much of it that she drowned at times... but it wasn't just the blood of her enemy, it was also the blood of her clan, the clan she had been too weak to protect. The blood of her father who was out making sure the monsters under the bed and in the closet didn't come out to play... and she feared that one day, if she remained weak, it would be the blood of her teammates...

So she trained.

She trained until her body hurt and her muscles ached, until she threw up blood and passed out from exhaustion. She pushed her body to its limits and beyond its breaking point...

Then she trained some more.

She took to medical ninjutsu very seriously now, it was pretty much in her blood to be a medic of sorts. She wanted to make sure she would never lose a comrade without giving everything she had to keep them from death's door. She devoured scroll after scroll of information on everything she could find from medicine to poisons, and everything in between. She pleaded with her mom to show her as much as she knew, and much to her mother's pleasure, Sakura was a prodigy at that as well.

Sakura had also learned she had control of two natures, earth and water.

She meditated on the nights she couldn't sleep, when she would wake up screaming or in cold sweats. She would train long before the sun rose and long after it went down. During her team meetings, she played it off and acted normal, as if it wasn't eating her alive - the feeling of weakness that ate at her. The voice inside her head that told her she would let everyone down and the next blood that would be shed would be her own.

Her teammates were worried sick about her, but they never said anything. She was acting as if everything was fine. She would watch the clouds with Nara or play shogi with him. She would cook food for Choji or ask Shino about different kinds of bugs. She would spend time with Ten-Ten and learn about different kinds of weapons, which she would then train with on her own. She would train with both Hyuuga, the male Hyuuga - Neji, became interested in the rosette as she would spend time with his cousin and would push her to train harder.

The mask she held to the world covered the ugly hole inside her chest that could not be filled, no matter how much she trained or how much she learned... something was missing, and she didn't know what.

One day, as she sat between her two teammates healing their wounds in the Uchiha's main home after a particularly intense training session, her mind was a drift. Of course, the two men took note of this but neither of them said anything. They could tell she was exhausted, they knew she did not sleep much and they had a feeling she was practically killing herself, but why? They didn't know.

Days had turned to weeks had turned to months since they came home from the bridge builder assignment, but something about Sakura had changed and they could feel it but none of them knew how to approach it. Itachi and Shisui sat across from where the three youngsters sat, Naruto speaking loudly, "Sakura-chan, your shoulder looks better!" Sakura glanced down at the old wound, it had healed nicely even after all she put it through the last few months. Sakura shrugged to herself.

"Would you look at that." She noted, her voice far away.

"Hey, weren't you and Itachi here supposed to have a spar or something?" Shisui chirped, earning a look from the rosette. In all honesty, she had forgotten all about the request from the elder Uchiha. She had not realized it had been over several months since the Uchiha had made his request, not that it had been intentional. Itachi, after all, was a ANBU just as Shisui was and Sakura was going between training with her teammates, training alone, and now she trained at the hospital. Her mother spoke with the Hokage and he felt it was a good idea to get them both in there. Their clan's healing capabilities were on par with the slug sannin, Senju Tsunade, there were some members that could possibly put the slug princess to shame - and he felt that Sakura could possibly be one of them. She learned so fast, it was scary. Sakura swore it to herself that she would meet Senju Tsunade and ask to be put under her tutelage. There were somethings her mother could not teach her, like the Senju's famous monstrous strength, or the strength of the hundredth seal, or the creation rebirth.

"I'm sure she isn't in the mood to spar. They just got back from training. She's probably tired." Itachi, in his own way, was teasing the young girl. To be honest, some part of him worried a bit for the girl as well. From what Sasuke said, she hadn't been herself in a while and was training herself into the ground.

Sakura glanced at the two Uchiha, "I'm okay with it if you are." She answered, her eyes on Itachi. A smirk formed on his lips, he had to give it to her, not many people took the idea of going against him so lightly.

"Very well, shall we then?" He asked, motioning towards the doors that led to the outside training ground. Getting to her feet, she gave a small smile and the two walked outside.

"Any rules?" She asked before they separated.

"Hn, no holding back."

Shisui, Sasuke, and Naruto sat on the sidelines watching the two stand across from each other. Sakura lie down a scroll on the ground before two twin swords popped into her hands in a cloud of smoke. Everyone watched with interest how the girl handled them with ease. Itachi smirked as she put the ends together forming a Lance of types. Looking it over, the girl nodded in silent agreement before sticking it into the ground.

It was odd, why had she done that? With Shisui's signal, the sparring began. The two Uchiha had to activate their Sharingan to keep up with the pace of it all, the two were going at an amazing speed and it sent chills down their spines that the girl seemed to be able to keep up with Itachi.

"Enough." He growled after about half an hour of her going along with him, "Now fight me. I said no holding back." He was frustrated because she had not attacked him once, just moved as if she were dancing with him. Nodding in hesitation, Sakura didn't even glance at her lance before going forward onto him... and that's when he felt it. Every bit of pain and anger, sadness and every bit of what kept her up at night came pouring out. It was powerful, as if she were speaking with her movements rather than her words, and he wondered if she even knew she was doing it. Dare he say it, it even felt intimate.

As she threw him several feet away, he glanced around and saw her weapon, abandoned where she had left it since the beginning of the spar. With a smirk, he went to reach for it. "It was rather odd for you to leave that lying around, aren't you afraid someone would use it against..." his were cut off as he felt something strange.. the lance was draining him of chakra.

"Samehada." Sakura said softly, "There's said to be a sword that drains it's enemies of their chakra should they touch it. That the only person it leaves unharmed is its wielder, but they have to be chosen. Samehada is the name of that sword and my two blade have that exact same power." Sakura cocked an eyebrow as she went after Itachi who had wisely put the lance aside.

The three spectators watched in awe as the two moved so fluidly against each other, as if they were the only two in the world.

In between the whole dance, at some point Itachi had gotten out a Kunai and now stood with it against the rosette's throat. "I do believe this means I have won." He spoke in a low voice.

"I'd call it a draw." Sakura smirked causing everyone to look at her in question... that was until their eyesight followed her own. She had her lance behind her and one end was sitting right beneath Itachi's family jewels..

Somewhere in the background Shisui and Naruto broke into a heap of laughter while Itachi raised an eyebrow. "A draw it is." He murmured, truly fascinated by the girl. Not only had she been able to keep up with him, but she had managed to end their spar in a draw. She gave a tired smile and looked him in the eye, "I apologize, but I believe I am going to pass out now." And true to her word, the girl dropped like a ton of bricks toward the ground, only to be caught by the Uchiha heir.

All laughter ended when they realized the girl had passed out. Sasuke stood silently, his mind still registering the fact that Sakura had made a draw during a spar with his brother. How the hell did that happen? His brother was strong and he could tell Itachi had not been holding back and neither had his teammate. He watched as Itachi carried the girl inside, past his parents who stood in the kitchen with wide eyes at what they had just witnessed.

The two had only caught the last few minutes of the fight between the Uchiha and Haruno, but it was enough to make them gawk at the girl that rested in the heir's arms. Not just anyone was able to keep up to the man that held her. Fugaku wanted to know about the young girl, it was not every day that a female with pink hair waltzed around being able to fight his eldest son as if she were taking a walk in the park. When he was informed that she had fought him after such an intense training beneath her sensei that day, he only became more enamored by the girl, not that he would ever admit to feeling awe for anyone. Mikoto and Fugaku looked at each other and passed on a silent agreement - they would have to watch the cotton candy haired woman and watch as she bloomed, because if she continued to do so, she could be one of the strongest kunoichi in all of the nations, and a rather nice addition to their clan.

It wasn't just the strength that Mikoto adored about the girl. She was well mannered and had plenty of patience. She was calm regardless of the situation and was honest. She had a sense of humor which at times even made Fugaku crack a smile, which no one would really even notice if they didn't look hard enough. Sakura may not seemed it, but she could be funny when she really wanted to be. To top it all off, she was spunky and did not hesitate to say exactly what she felt. Her words were always soft when she did so, leaving the person feeling uneasy because of how calm she was she they could tell that if she were anyone else, she would probably kill them. It sure as hell worried the blond when he got anywhere near pissing the rosette off, which was hard to tell was happening unless you knew the signs.

Usually, her eyebrow would twitch and she would bite her lip a little, her eyes darkening ever so slightly. It was obvious that she reigned in her temper, which only made the Uchiha (all five of them to be exact) wonder exactly what would happen if she actually lost her temper… There was a sudden cold chill in the air and for some reason, they changed their minds and decided to never try and find out.

Itachi sat beside the bed he lie her on (which was his bed) and watched her sleep. Her chest moved slowly up and down with each breath she took and her eyebrows crunched several times in worry or pain, he couldn't tell which. He knew he should probably leave her be, but there was some sort of worry that flooded his stomach. She had bruises on various parts of her body, scars littering places and she was pretty light to carry. He knew the signs of someone pushing themselves too far. Of course he would know, he himself did it all the time. Sighing deeply, he sat back in his chair and watched the girl steadily, she was an enigma - everything from her pink hair to her strength, to how she acted for her age…. Everything about her screamed prodigy and the epitome of what a shinobi should be. He felt bad for her, he knew she had her first kill and that it had been worrying her teammates, especially his Ototo. Sasuke would go on and on about what Sakura was doing, about how he and Naruto spy on her to make sure she was okay and that she had trained so hard once that she vomited blood and passed out.

No one knew how to approach the girl about her self destruction when many shinobi would be a hypocrite for even trying to lecture the girl. She kept up the charade and none were willing to call her out on it. They all coped in their own ways, he supposed. He knew he did the same thing after his first botched ANBU mission that led to half his team being killed. Shisui and Kakashi had been the ones to bring him out of his stupor and got him to realize killing himself was not going to bring anyone back to life. Itachi stood slowly as he realized the girl had streams of tears falling down the sides of her face, whimpers coming from her lips. He didn't know why, but he wanted to comfort her. He lie beside her and brought her body to his, placing her head on his chest and circling her waist with his arm… And to his surprise, she stopped crying and the whimpers disappeared.

He knew then, that she was definitely familiar. Everything about her screamed it. From the way she smelled to the way her skin felt. He knew her, he just did not know how. Flashes of memory came across his mind. It was the memory of a younger him playing with a young girl with rose colored hair and emerald eyes as a man with warm hands took away the pain and allowed him to breathe…

The soft feeling of her breath on his neck and the flashes of lost memory made him fall into a deep sleep of his own, it would be the first in many years.

Emerald eyes slid open slowly, only to wince back close due to the early morning sun that spilled through the cracks in the window shade. A soft heartbeat caught her attention and it was at that moment that she realized her head was resting on someone's chest. Slowly, as to not wake whoever it was, she removed her body from theirs. It was only slightly surprising for her to come face to face with the Uchiha heir. She knew he would eventually begin to remember her as she remembered him. A small smile found her lips as she watched the onyx haired male sleep, his long lashes touching his cheeks and the tired lines not as pronounced as they usually were. She had wandered, back then, what had ever become of the handsome boy (well, preteen at the time) that played with her when she was younger. Seeing him again at her teammates home a few years later had surprised her greatly, albeit she did not show it. She did not want to burden him with memories in which were stolen from him, if he remembered on his own and sought her out, she wanted him to choose that… not her burden him with it.

Sakura removed herself from his bed entirely, wrote him a small thank you note and left it on his bedside table. With that, Sakura ran home to shower before heading in for her shift at the hospital.

Itachi had woken slightly as the woman on his chest did, and he could feel her emerald eyes watch him… he could all but see the smile on her lips, although he could not help but wonder why. He felt her shift from him and suddenly, he missed the warmth her body gave his and the feeling of security that seeped from her body to his. He missed her as she left and only moved when he could no longer feel her signature. A shower was needed and afterwards, a smile found his lips as he read her thank you letter.

*.*.*.*

"Uh, Sensei, what the hell is the Chuunin exams?" Asked Naruto, his three students staring at him expectantly.

"Well, since we are not at times of war, there is no way to really test if someone is ready to be chuunin or not, so the only way we can really do that is to put all of the genin into a tournament of sorts and see who is really worthy of the title 'chuunin'." Kakashi answered simply.

"And when were you planning on telling us that we were signed up for it?" Asked Sasuke, annoyance apparent in his tone.

"Well, now. Surprise!" Kakashi sang with his signature crinkled eyed smile.

All three students gave him a blank stare, which he waved off. "I wouldn't have signed you up if I didn't think you were ready. Trust me, you're ready." Kakashi then went on to explain the different parts of the exams. The written portion, the survival portion, and the one on one portions.

After training that day, Sakura walked about the village lost in her thoughts, only to bump into the chest of another. Blinking rapidly, the rosette blushed slightly, "My apologies." Show bowed to whoever it was she bumped into. Standing up, the male she walked into seemed he was about to make a snide remark, but instead his eyes watched her. They stared at a long time, teal meeting emerald. The boy had dark black rings around his teal colored eyes, his hair was blood red and he had a kanji for "love" on his forehead and some sort of gourd on his back. He stared at her expectantly and she was unsure why.

"I'm Haruno Sakura by the way." She smiled brightly, offering her hand. The boy eyed it, mentally he was shocked this girl was talking to him rather than running away. Didn't she know who he was? What he was? Why was she being so nice to him rather than running away?

"Sabaku No Gaara." Gaara of the sand. She was sure she had heard of him before, she was more than sure it was because the boy was a Jinchūriki. She could feel it more than she could see it.

"Ah, you're like Naruto. I am glad he will be able to meet someone like him." He knew for sure she meant Shikaku, which surprised him more that she was still talking to him rather than cowering in fear of him. "Are you here for the chuunin exams?" Gaara gave a hesitant nod. If she were annoyed with his lack of communication skills, she did not seem it. "We are as well. I hope you enjoy your time here. I can show you around a bit before I go home, if you'd like. It looks a bit different here at night and there's more to see." She offered. This girl just kept surprising him. Not only was she being _nice_ to him, not _running away_ from him in fear, and smiling at him - she offered to spend _time_ with him. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Why would you do that for a stranger?"

"Because, it's a nice thing to do. Besides, you looked a little lonely and I was lonely and I figured why can't we be lonely together?" She wasn't lying right out, she had left of her own accord from her team but there was something that bothered her.. She wanted to be alone but didn't want to feel lonely and she wondered how exactly that could be. Her thoughts turned to the elder Uchiha but she shut that down right away, he was busy and could not possibly have time to humor her preteen drama. The boy before her looked as if he didn't believe her words. She wanted to ask him who did that to him, made him question why other people wanted to be nice to him.. And she did.

His eyes went wide for a moment, no one had ever asked him such a question. "You don't have to go through life alone, you know. Life is scary and unpleasant at times, that's nothing anyone should have to endure alone." Shrugging her shoulders, "So why not make friends wherever you go, if not even for a few days."

"We will be against each other during the exams." He pointed out. Again, the female shrugged, "We can be friends outside of the arena, we don't have to bring that weight with us outside those gates." He was shocked into silence, so he merely followed her through the village and listened as she talked. She told him about the seasons in Konoha and her favorite fruits from each one, while admitting she had only gotten to experience three of the four seasons. Winter had not been something she experienced yet and was not sure how much to look forward to it. She told him about her own travels and how she had met a few sand shinobi and thought they were amazing shinobi, some of them were very kind. Gaara listened in silence, only giving one worded answers but it did not seem to deter the rosette from talking with him (most would think she was talking at him, but they did not feel that way).

It was a bit late into the night when two figures found the two genin. One was a boy with purple face paint and a puppet on his back while the other was a blonde girl with a big fan on her back and her hair separated into four parts on her head. "Gaara!" the girl called in relief, "We've been looking for you everywhe…" The girl stopped when she realized her brother was in the presence of another person. Another person who didn't look at him with fear in her eyes and had seemed to be engaging the redhead in conversation (albeit she imagined it had been mostly one sided). Both parties watched the newcomers before Gaara gained enough sense to introduce them all. "Temari, Kankaro, this is Haruno Sakura… Sakura, these are my siblings." Temari stared at the girl. She was a Haruno, albeit the only Haruno she had ever seen with pink hair, but she was definitely a Haruno.

"Hello." Sakura waved, only for her to become on high alert, "Crap! I need to get home, my mom is going to be really upset that I stayed out this late." Sighing deeply, she turned to Gaara and smiled sheepishly, "Thank you for coming out with me. It was nice to meet you and I look forward to hopefully knowing you more." She then turned to his siblings and bowed gracefully, "And it was nice to meet you both. I hope next time we will be able to actually speak more than just our names. I believe your Inn is two buildings away if you gave me the right name." She beamed, "At any rate, have a good night!" And suddenly, she turned to the redhead and hugged him, mostly because she felt that no one else really ever did. The boy went wide eyed and stood in shock, his sand danced around restlessly because it was unsure how to act - it was obvious that the girl was not a threat, but he was unsure how to handle this sort of situation. Before he could speculate more, she pulled away and gave him a quick bow before running in the opposite direction, no doubt towards home..

Both siblings stared dumbly at the scene that just took place before them. That girl… just hugged their brother… and walked away alive. They stared at each other before Gaara finally spoke, "Let us return to our suite. I think I am hungry." With that, Gaara strolled past his siblings in deep thought.

*.*.*.*.*

 **Author's note:**

 **So, we met Gaara, we caught a glimpse of what's to come for Itachi and Sakura and we know we will be entering into the Chuunin exams, was that enough action for you guys? Hope so!**

 **Enjoy, much love!**


	7. Chapter 7

She was going to kill Kakashi.

She knew this whole thing was not going to be a walk in the park, or rather in their case, a stroll through the forest, but for fucks sake this was ridiculous.

The whole thing started off simple enough, they had to be able to dispel a genjutsu that was put over a classroom – she guessed it was to help weed out the really oblivious ones. Walking right past the classroom and to the next floor up, her two teammates looked at her questioningly. "That's not the right room, there''s a genjutsu cast on it to make it look like it is. We have one more floor to climb." She explained calmly, both boys nodding along and following without question. She was pleased to see that Gaara and his siblings had made it through the minor test, as well as the rest of the Konoha 12. Waving at all of the people she knew and giving the sand siblings a bright smile, she sat with her team in the middle isle and waited for further instruction while her teammates (well, Naruto anyway) chattered away with the other teams. She missed the smiles the sand siblings returned and the odd look Gaara gave her, he still was puzzled about the girl who continued to show him such genuine kindness.

The test was simple enough, she knew it was more about their abilities to cheat without getting caught than what they actually knew. Sakura didn't bother cheating, she was one of the smartest kids in the class along side the Nara and Uchiha. When the test finished and Naruto gave his big (and rather boisterous) speech about not backing down even in the face of possible failure, everyone who stayed after the test won. Sakura smiled proudly at her two teammates and gave them both a quick hug. The second part was obviously much worse than the first part. Just as Kakashi had said, they would be going into the forest of death in search of a scroll opposite of their own to combine with the one at hand. They were to take their opposing scroll from another team and make it to the end of the forest in five day's time. When they were sent in, Sakura devised a plan that allowed them to evade other teams and get what they need with minimal confrontation, which worked like a charm. They were able to get their needed scroll after Sasuke used his sharingan on the poor unsuspecting victim. Sakura only felt a tad bit bad for them, but she knew they needed the scroll to win.

It was on the third day that shit hit the fan. A team of sound nin came across their team while Naruto was on watch, with whatever techniques they had, Naruto was knocked out cold and blood poured out of his ears – no doubt his equilibrium was massively turned about and made him pass out. Sasuke jumped in and Sakura was not far behind after she got Naruto safely within the hollowed out tree they'd taken refuge in for the night. "Ah, Uchiha Sasuke. If you come with us, we'll make your friends' deaths fast and painless." Sakura stood beside the Uchiha and they traded glances.

"That doesn't really sound like a good trade." Sasuke responded nonchalantly. The nin frowned a bit, the two Konoha nin did not seem afraid of them and it irked him.

"Fine, we'll just have to take you the hard way." The battle that ensued ended up with Sasuke having a broken arm and being knocked out due to the same move that knocked out Naruto. A growl came from Sakura's lips as she watched the nin get closer to her teammate. The man holding her by the hair chuckled darkly against her ear, "Now, now. Watch closely, your turn is next."

" _You will have to do these things to protect your precious people. Your village.. Yourself."_ Sakura's eyes became dark, " _Those people out there don't care how old you are, they don't care where you're from or who you are. If they want you dead, they will do whatever it takes to make that happen."_ Without much further thought, Sakura pulled out her swords, one sword slicing right through her braid that was tangled in the man's hand and her other plunging right into the man's chest. Blood squirted over her face and hand as she removed the blade. There was screaming and shouting going on behind her, but it was drowned out by the words her mother had said as they echoed in her head. " _You will have to do these things to protect your precious people."_

 _'Enough of being weak, of allowing the chance for others to hurt those you love. Its time to let go. Let them see you will_ _ **not**_ _back down.'_ Her movements were fluid as she moved through the last two sound nin, their blood painting her skin red and her eyes growing darker. She stood in front of Sasuke now, her eyes watching the yellow eyed, sickly pale looking woman who watched Sasuke so intently. "I only came for the boy, but it seems you may be worthy of my mark as well." With that, Sasuke slowly woke and got to his feet, confusion fluttering across his face.

There was a sick snap as the woman's head shot backwards before going forward towards the two children, moving quickly, Sakura placed the hilts of her swords together and put her lance between them and the enemy, the woman's teeth catching hold of the lance.

 _Wisps of rose colored hair clouded his vision as she stood before him, her arms shaking as she kept the enemy at bay. A scream ripped from her throat as she pushed back._

The memory, the sudden deja vu hit him like a sack of bricks – he remembered this exact thing flashing through his mind back during the attack with Zabuza. "Sasuke, I will protect you.." Her voice was low as blood spilled from her lips and ears.

Flashes of Sasuke turning his back on the village, of his vision being clouded red with anger and his need to be stronger played through her mind. She refused to allow that to happen to him, for him to become such a person. "I love you, and I will not allow this to hurt you." She ground out as her arms became stronger. Tears began to stream down her face and Sasuke stood frozen behind her, not sure what to do.

It took all but a moment and suddenly there was an explosion of chakra from the rosette, enough to push Sasuke back and against a tree, slamming his head against the trunk. A grunt left his lips and his visions began to blur... But he knew what he saw. Long strips of red began weaving its self around Sakura as she made her final push, her lance was draining the woman of her chakra and she pulled back when she realized that. Sakura growled, with the minor opening, she pulled her swords apart and shot it through the distance and right into the woman's chest. She flared another signal of chakra – she could feel in the distance a reply meaning a team of ANBU were on their way. The woman grimaced as she pulled the sword from her chest and dropped it to the ground. "I will be back, and I will get what I want." She hissed before disappearing. Glancing over at the noise of a small grunt, she smiled. Naruto was starting to wake up. Her teammates were safe and help was on the way. Sakura closed her eyes, she had protected her precious people. With that thought, the girl succumbed to the darkness that spotted her vision.

*.*.*.*

The distant sound of beeping machines caused her to stir. Her eyes moved behind her eyelids and a groan was pulled from her lips. Slowly, emerald eyes slid open, only to snap shut once more at the sight of blinding pale light.

"You're up." Came a tired voice. Sakura turned her head slowly towards said voice and was met with a small smile from the Uchiha heir. He was not who she was expecting to wake up to, not that she was complaining.

"What... happened? Where are Naruto and Sasuke?" She whispered, her voice hoarse.

Itachi got from his seat and sat next to the rosette on her bed, bringing with him some water. He helped her sit up and drink from the cup as he spoke, "Kakashi had to forcibly remove them and half of the contestants of the chuunin exams out of your room to allow you to rest. Who knew you were so popular. Even the sand siblings and Gaara-san stopped by to check on your status."

Sakura smiled at this softly, "I will make sure to thank them all."

"Hn, as for your other question, we were hoping you'd tell _us_ what happened. Naruto was apparently knocked out during the last ordeal and Sasuke was unable to really explain much. He said something about a woman and her trying to attack you guys. He said there had been a name mentioned by one of the sound nin that you discarded of."

"Orochimaru." Sakura murmured, "One of them said that Orochimaru wanted Sasuke for some reason or another. He didn't say why."

If Itachi was bothered by this development, he did not outwardly show it. "I see. And I'm assuming he said he was now interested in you."

"Ah."

"Sakura... What happened out there? You killed three sound nin without flinching and you took on.. A Sannin." This news, well the last part, shocked Sakura.

"A Sannin?" Sakura repeated.

"Yes, Orochimaru is one of three Sannin. The others, as you know, are Senju Tsunade and Jiraiya. And you just squared off with one of them, and while you may not have particularly won, you came pretty damn close to it. Sakura, what happened out there?"

"She doesn't know." Came another voice causing both shinobi to look towards the newcomer.

"Sensei?" Sakura murmured, "What do you mean?"

"I spoke with your mom, she explained a few things to me and the Hokage felt it best to explain things as they arose. At this time, I do not think it is best to explain everything. We will finish out the competition and take things slowly."

"You want her to finish the exams?" Itachi all but growled, this caused Kakashi to give him a look – Itachi never voiced such reactions, but it was obvious that he was very much displeased with Kakashi's decision.

"If she is willing to do so, then yes. Sakura, we are on the last day of determination. If you go forward, you all go forward. I know this is an unfair burden to put on your shoulders, but your partners need you to keep going. You can do this, I know you can and when it is all done, your mother, the Hokage, myself and you will all sit down and go over all of this. I need you to keep fighting. You have a lot more strength than you know."

Sakura bit her lip and she nodded, "Alright. I will continue."

"Sakura.."

"Itachi, please don't baby me. I can do this, and I will not leave my teammates behind. Those who break the rules are scum, but those who leave behind their friends are worse than scum." Sakura smiled softly, "We are shinobi, this is the path we choose. Our enemy will not simply bow down because we are tired or feeling run down. I will fight and I will win." With that, she pushed her legs over the side of the best and grabbed her clothing from the side of the bed. Both men turned their backs to her to give her some privacy as she just began stripping and changing.

"Ah, Sakura-chan, maybe next time you could warn us before you simply strip naked." Kakashi coughed awkwardly.

"Why, you have seen naked women before. We're teammates and shinobi, if you can't see me naked without blushing like a school girl, that maybe you're in the wrong field, sensei.."

"Maa, so mean, Sakura-chan."

Itachi smirked at the banter between the two, and he found his respect deepen for the young kunoichi, he knew she would be great, both mentally and physically and she only seemed to continue to prove him right. When she finished, she walked towards the door, "Go ahead, meet up with your team, they're right out the doors." She gave her sensei a quick nod before heading out.

"She made a Sannin back down, Kakashi. That sort of fighting goes beyond a chuunin. There are some jounin that would not have been able to fight so boldly and make Orochimaru back down." Itachi said after a few beats of silence.

"I know... I know, but I can't do that to her yet... What they would do to her... What being a jounin would do to her. She would be drafted to become ANBU right away, just like you and I were and I can't do that to her. I know she is a prodigy, I know she is strong. I know she will possibly turn out to be one of the greatest shinobi to walk the earth, but god... I _can't_ do that to her. Not yet."

Itachi watched the older shinobi's face and knew the pain behind his words. Of course he knew Kakashi was right. If anyone other than them and the Hokage found out she was this strong, they would make her a jounin without question and groom her to become ANBU like he was, like his cousin and like Kakashi had been made to be. Itachi nodded to himself, "We will have to keep this secret for as long as possible, but I'm going to need to know more than just bits of information."

"I know. We will have to deal with this when the time comes, right now we need to get them ready for the next portion."

"What happens if whatever happened in the forest occurs again?" Asked Itachi.

"Well, then shit will hit the proverbial fan and we will have to take a different course of action." Kakashi said lightly with his infamous crinkled eye smile.

*.*.*.*.*

"We have to fight each other!?" Naruto cried, "But what if we go against each other?!"

"We probably don't have to actually win, Naruto. I'm sure its probably to see what our strengths and weaknesses are and to see if we are aware of them enough to be productive on the field." Sakura assured the blonde whom looked at Sakura in awe.

 _Sakura V.S Temari_

Of course she would be the first to go. Looking at her teammates, she gave them a small nod and made her way down to the field. When she arrived, she bowed before Temari who stood a bit shocked, but then mimicked the girl's action. "Remember, friendly competition. We can be friends and still compete." Sakura smiled. Temari was slightly shocked by the girl's words, she knew Sakura had said the same thing to Gaara, he may have mentioned it at some point when they questioned why he visited the rosette while in the nurses station.

"Of course, but I won't go easy on you." Temari answered.

"Good, I don't want you to." Sakura responded. Both girls smiled as the signal to begin came. Both stayed still for a moment then the fight began. Temari used her fan, causing Sakura to fly back, hitting her back on the wall of the field. Grunting slightly, she smirked and got up, running full speed at Temari, while the girl got ready to hit her with another gust of wind, Sakura made several hand signs before slapping her hand against the ground causing a huge wall of earth to erect just as the wind hit. When she was sure there was an open window of time, Sakura jumped over the wall and right onto Temari. With her legs around the girl's neck, Sakura back flipped, bringing Tamari tumbling down.

Sakura then moved away but stayed close enough to follow Temari, not giving her enough room to use her fan. It soon turned into a dance as Sakura moved along with Temari, shadowing the blonde's moves and hitting her in her weak spots. "I don't want to keep this going, will you surrender?" Sakura whispered, "I do not think less of you. You are a worthy opponent but I do not want to hurt you. Please do not think I am patronizing you." Temari looked into the girl's eyes and saw no ill intent, she knew the rosette did not want to cause her pain nor did she want to keep fighting.

"My brother..."

"I will not allow him to think less of you. You are a great kunoichi and I will make sure he sees that." After a few beats of silence, Temari nodded and threw her hand up, "I surrender!"

There was a burst of confused murmurs amongst the crowd. "Haruno Sakura is the winner." Came the spectator's voice. All it took was Naruto's loud applaud for everyone else to follow suit.

Turning to Temari, she bowed deeply and helped the kunoichi to the sidelines, she had not realized she hurt the girl's leg and possibly broke her arm.

"Sakura!" Temari called out as Sakura walked away, "Thank you!" Sakura smiled and bowed again before finding her way to the stands.

"You really need to teach me that Aikido stuff." Sasuke murmured causing Sakura to laugh softly, "Maybe I will one day." If it were possible, she swore she saw Sasuke pout. "Hey, your uncle is here." Sakura murmured.

Looking over, Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, he's a spectator." There, in all his glory, Uchiha Madara was staring at the girl with pink hair and emerald eyes, respect and interest flickering across his face. He was interested in the petite kunoichi that had just brought down her opponent with respect and dignity. He also heard said girl faced off against Orochimaru. Interesting indeed.

*.*.*.*

"That was a good fight." Itachi murmured, his voice a bit tired as he panted beside the rosette.

"I could have done better."

"I meant during the exams, but yet, this fight was good as well."

The two were sparing. The exams ended the week prior and all those who passed were given three months to prepare for the finals. Sakura was paired against Gaara, Neji against Shikamaru, Sasuke against Naruto, and Shino against Kankuro.

"Oh, thanks." Sakura chuckled as she lie on her back panting. They had been going at it for a few hours now, usually Itachi would train with Shisui, but the elder Uchiha was away on a mission and Itachi could only think of two people he could train with. Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura. Hatake was busy training with Naruto along side Jiraiya and Sasuke was being trade by Fugaku and Madara. Itachi took it upon himself to train the rose haired girl as Tsunade trained her with her medical ninjutsu. Tsunade had come back to the hidden leaf village per special request from Minato, he had told her about the Haruno that had great potential, and so Tsunade came to see the girl herself and decided to take Haruno under her wing. She had heard great things about the Harunos, and Minato broke down the truth for Tsunade. There had been a meeting between the two of them, Hatake, Itachi, Mebuki and Sakura. Mebuki explained the whole ordeal as she did for Hatake and Itachi had felt winded, the memories came crawling back and he silently wondered if Shisui and Obito would remember things as well, but of course he would not be able to mention it to them under he circumstances.

The Uchiha heir felt bad for the rosette, she only had her parents because the clan she traveled with was killed in cold blood, her grandfather amongst the casualties. Tsunade felt bad for the girl as well but did not take the girl as her apprentice out of pity but out of interest. She saw the recorded footage of Sakura going head to head with her ex teammate and couldn't say no after that. She agreed right away and they began training immediately. Between training with Tsunade and Itachi, Sakura worked her regular schedule at the hospital and knew she would be ready for the finals, although she could not help but wonder how her teammates were doing.

"Something bad is going to happen." She whispered suddenly, causing the Uchiha to face her.

"What do you mean?" He asked softly.

"I don't know, there's just this feeling in the pit of my stomach and its telling me something bad is going to happen. I don't know when or what, but it will."

Itachi thought about this for a long moment, "Well, we can't do much about a feeling, but we can get dango." He mused. Sakura popped up from the ground with a wide grin, "Yes, please!" Sakura cheered.

Helped the rosette up, Itachi couldn't help but smile at the girl. She was a light in all the darkness and he truly hoped that the world of shinobi would not dim her light because that would be the greatest tragedy he could think of.

*.*.*.*

 **Author's note: Tada! Chapter seven! Sorry I'm not giving much screen time to Naruto and Sasuke, but I mean.. the whole series is basically centered around them and for once, I want a female protagonist who doesn't need to keep being saved by people. I truly think Sakura had so much potential to be great and it was wasted. I also do not agree with the Sakura and Sasuke end pairing. I honestly would agree with anyone but Sasuke, he did not deserve that sort of love and commitment and it bothers me that it was a rather romanticized form of abuse. At any rate, hope you all enjoy!**

 **I truly appreciate all my followers, all the reviews and all the favorites – you truly help me keep writing!**

 **Much love!**


	8. Chapter 8

He needed her to open up to him.

To give every part of herself to him.

To stop being so afraid, to stop restraining herself.

He needed her to see what he saw, to realize everything she was.

She was a fire, burning bright in the darkness - the brightest light he had ever seen.

Her eyes were the only thing he could see, they held the fire of Konoha.

He needed her to let go.

"Trust in me, Sakura . Let me see everything." He whispered gently against her ear. A shiver went down her spine.

Muscle moved smoothly beneath taught, ivory skin. She was in all her glory and all he needed was to remind her of her power.

" _But I'm afraid."_ Those were the words that spilled from her lips as his onyx eyes stared deeply into her emerald depths. It was like he was in an endless sea of green, his heart reaching out to hers. He could see the internal battle, the fear that held her captive, the reason she kept herself at bay.

Time was going by, two months only reduced to a few weeks and he felt as though he had gotten now where. She refused to let go, to allow herself to fight.

Her mother had sat down with the handful of them, refusing to meet her daughter's eyes. She hated the secrets she had been keeping, she hated keeping them from her just to keep her safe even though she knew the end result. She couldn't look at the fear, betrayal, and sadness that spilled into those green hues. The Hokage, Tsunade, Kakashi, Itachi, Sakura, and Mebuki sat in the Hokage's office as Mebuki explained all the same things to the group as she had done for Kakashi. During this time, a there were expressions on the Uchiha's face as muddled memories slowly tried to surface. He felt the warmth that filled his heart, and the heartbreak that the two Haruno shared. Itachi glanced over to the rosette and couldn't help the ache that filled his soul for her. The only people Sakura had left were her parents, one of which was out scouring the world to keep the monster at bay. He was giving the ultimate sacrifice that a shinobi could give their family.

After the meeting, Sakura had refused to talk about any of it. They trained and trained, Sakura took on her heavy load with the hospital, training with Tsunade and the Uchiha heir. She trained until her body bled and her eyes were bagged with darkness beneath them. The day she finally opened up, she told him she had a bad feeling. She didn't know about what, or when or how, just that it would happen, and in the moment he offered her dango, he saw the gleam in her eyes.

As training went forward though, he grew frustrated. She was scared of whatever she was, of whatever lie inside her. She did not allow herself to be unrestrained, and for some reason that hurt his soul. He hated the idea of such a strong spirit slowly breaking. He needed to get through to her, but he didn't know how.

Shisui, at some point, decided to point out Itachi's borderline obsession with the rosette's training. "I can't explain it. It's like watching Sasuke with my father, except Sasuke wants to make him proud and isn't afraid to show off while Sakura is beyond frightened to let herself shine. I know the possibilities of her being drafted is high, but dammit." Shisui was surprised at how passionate his cousin had become about this. There seemed to be something more, and he had a small feeling as to what it was. The more the Haruno was around, the more pieces slowly started to surface, Obito noticed as well.

There was something so strangely familiar about her, it made something inside them ache with some sort of sadness, something they couldn't really understand, but it was obvious that Itachi knew what it was. He didn't make it a point to bring it up seeing as his usually stoic cousin was already bothered about the whole thing. He watched them train and he also noticed how much she held back. How much she didn't allow herself to fight without worry. There was something in her posture, in her body language and the way she held herself, she was afraid… but afraid of _what_? He didn't want to pry, but something told him he was part of it.

*.*.*.*

Sakura woke slowly, her eyes wincing at the bright light that filtered through her window. It was her only day off, mostly given to her out of pity than anything. She extracted herself from her bed and bypassed the mirror, she was more than sure that she looked like shit, she didn't really need a reminder. Into the shower she went, a groan escaping her as she let the warm water wash over her. As she dressed, her mind was swirling around, making her a little sick. A knock on the door caught her attention and pulled her from her thoughts. Pulling on her black spandex shorts and a dark blue tank top before walking to the door. Opening it, her eyes widened a bit. "Gaara?" she breathed, "What brings you here today?" she asked softly after giving the red head a quick hug, which he had yet learned to give back.

"I went by the hospital but lady Tsunade stated you were off for the day. I was hoping we could have… lunch?" his words were quiet and measured, hesitant but the look in his eyes showed just how insecure he was.

"Lunch? But it's only morning?"

"Ah, it's one in the afternoon." Gaara mused.

Sakura's eyes widened, "Holy shit… I really slept in today. Alright, yes. Lunch it is, of course. Let's go." Slipping on her shoes, Sakura locked up, her mother was probably helping at the hospital so she left a note before heading out. The two walked around the village a while talking, or rather Sakura talking and Gaara listening and giving small acknowledging grunts. Most would have probably found it annoying, but after spending time with Uchiha, she found it endearing. They sat down at an outdoor patio and ate in a comfortable silence. Her short pink locks fluttered around her jaw and he couldn't help but stare at her. She was the most pure thing he had ever seen. She never seemed uneasy around him, she always looked at him with compassion, never fear, pity, or hatred.

She was a bright light amongst the darkness and it made him feel something in his chest, something that ached and turned and made him, dare he say it, scared. Even his sand was calm around her, allowing her to hug him or take his hand and lead him where ever she was going. She introduced him to her friends whenever they met someone and would give them a death glare if anyone so much as gave him a worried look.

When they parted, he finally said it, "Thank you."

She cocked her head to the side, "For what? You paid for lunch."

"You are nice to me… and never make me feel.." He didn't know how to continue, but she knew what he was trying to say.

"Gaara, we are friends. That's what friendship means. It means being there for someone and supporting them, no matter what. I care about you, no matter what you or anyone else thinks about you." she smiled softly before hugging him once more. His eyes went wide, _friend?_ The word felt both heavy and light on his heart and he wasn't sure how that could be. When she pulled away, her smile was brighter before she had to say goodbye and gave a little wave before she was out of sight.

" _I should tell her. I should warn her.."_ The thoughts ate at him and for the first time in his life, he felt torn.

*.*.*.

Dinner was just Sakura and her mother, the tension between them was still raw - which Mebuki knew would happen, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Never in her life had they been at odds like this, they told each other everything and it hurt her soul that they were in a bind. But Mebuki knew her daughter and her daughter just needed time. A knock at the door signaled a visitor and Sakura looked at her mother questioning. Mebuki gave a shrug and Sakura got up to open the door, "Itachi." she greeted, "Good evening, is everything okay?" she asked softly, allowing him entrance.

Itachi smiled one of his rare smiles, "Yes. My mother is cooking a rather large meal tomorrow, Shisui just got back from a mission and Sasuke was given a day off. She wanted me to invite you," Sakura suddenly felt guilt flood her. Mikoto had become like a second mother to her, lady Tsunade right behind her and Kashina was more of an endearing aunt. She had not spent much time at the compound since training had began. She felt bad for not visiting, "Of course." She agreed easily, "Yes. Would you like to join us for dinner?" She asked in return. Itachi shook his head, "No, is have already eaten and mother is expecting me back soon. I wanted to extend the invitation."

"Thank you.. I will see you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow." He paused at the doorway, looking back at her over his shoulder, he turned to the girl and poked her gently on her forehead. "Goodnight."

Her eyes were wide as she watched him walk away. She had seen Itachi do that same thing to Sasuke a many times, always with that soft look in his eyes. She wondered why that was. She brushed her fingers over the spot before she closed the door behind him.

A small smile took his lips as he ran atop the roofs, he hadn't planned on that, but he didn't regret it. Some how it was more intimate than anything else he could offer. He felt it hailed in comparison to the heart and soul he had felt during their first spar.

*.**.**

Sakura pulled on her sandals and looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a deep blue dress, it was respectful and tasteful while still having that edge that was Sakura. Her pink locks were in small waves framing her heart shaped face. A smile to the woman in the mirror. She took her time to get to the compound, she had more than enough time. She was happy to get to see Sasuke for a few hours, she really missed her team but it hurt knowing she wouldn't be able to share the secret he harbored with them. This made a knot inside her heart twist a bit. She hated the secrets but knew they were important to keep.

Her thoughts were ended when she realized she had made it to the compound. Itachi had been the one to open the door and great her, who gave way to Sasuke. The two smiled at each other before hugging each other fiercely. The family of his were shocked to see such a strong reaction from the usually nonchalant young Uchiha.

The family talked and ate, it was nice because usually they ate in silence. She impressed Mikoto and Fugaku greatly by answering all of Fugaku's questions with ease. They learned about her training with Tsunade and at the hospital and with Itachi. He sang her praises, albeit it being the way only Uchiha Itachi could.

At the end, Sasuke ended up calling an early night, Fugaku and Madara had plans for him in the early morning and he was still exhausted from the training that day. Everyone slowly bid their good night's and left Sakura and Itachi alone.

He insisted on walking her home, the two of them talked as they walked. He told her about himself as he felt it was the least he could do with knowing so much about her, learning some of those things when she had only learned them herself. She opened up to him as well.

They bid their good night's at her door and before he could walk away (after another forehead poke) Sakura called out to him. "Thank you."

He incline his head, a silent question,

"For every thing. I know I have been frustrating you but you haven't given up on me. You have made sure I don't close myself off and you don't push me for answers I don't have. Thank you."

Itachi walked to her, cupping her chin and pulling her face so they were eye level, "I will not give up on you. You are so much more than you give yourself credit for. I will not allow that to go to waste. Not when I know your dreams. I will help you achieve them to the best I can."

"Why?" she asked softly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

He didn't have a reason, he only knew he cared for her the more they spent time together and he didn't care for a reason as to why. "You are the brightest light, I don't want you to be snuffed out. I want to watch you blaze." some how, his few words said so much more than what he had actually said, and she was thankful for it,

*.*.*. *

She couldn't breathe. She stared at him with pained, wide eyes and he looked back with sad, jade eyes, "I'm sorry.." He whispered amongst the chaos.

"You're my friend!" She screamed, "How could you do this?!" Tears spilled down her cheeks, the guilt gripping him tighter… but he had to leave. His mission was done and with the lead inside his chest, he ran. The picture of her stained into his mind made Shikaku scream with a pained rage.

" _Because we're friends. That's what friends do.."_

"I'm so sorry, Sakura." He murmured as he ran away.

How had things gotten so muddled? He never meant to befriend a girl with pink hair and endless emerald eyes. A girl with a heart big enough to accept him for all the monster he was…

And he broke her heart.

"Sakura, we have to fight!" Hissed Sasuke, "We're in the middle of a war… cry later, fight now.."

But the weight in her chest was too heavy. She was so tired of watching those around her succumb to monsters.. she was so tired of hurting, she didn't want to see it anymore..

Then she became tired, and there was a warm sensation in her chest that slowly enveloped her all over. It was if time stopped, all those around that could feel it stood in their place, their eyes landing on the beacon of Chakra spilling into the world.

He brought war and chaos with him, but she knew he wished he didn't. She would save him and let him know she forgave him, even if that meant fighting him.

"Saku….Sakura?" Sasuke was hesitant, his eyes bleeding crimson at the sight of her. There was glow coming from her and this power omitting from the center of her chest, she didn't seem to hear him. She walked forward and as she did, enemy and ally alike stopped and watched her.

Chaos stopped as she stood before Gaara, who at this point was Shikaku. The hurt enveloped him and that was that shell around him. "I forgive you, now stop this." Her voice was calm, her Chakra warm and calming. Everyone stood their ground, and to their greatest surprise, the sand around Gaara spiraled away until just he stood there. Then she pulled him to her, "Please come back.." She whispered, "You're not a monster.."

His heart clenched painfully and he gave a slow nod. The red ribbons that had wrapped around her slowly dissipated, leaving all the onlookers with confusion on their faces, taking their memories of what they had seen of her away and replacing them with a false one.

"I'm so tired, Sakura." He whispered.

"Me too."

Darkness took her then.

*.*.*.*

Itachi had seen it all, but he wondered why his memories remained when all else had been erased. He figured it was because he already knew. What he had seen took his breath away. She was a beacon of power, waves of strength and calmness, peace and silence followed her. He watched as the red headed boy fell into her arms, and something deep inside him felt like lead. He didn't know why he felt this… this deep growl inside his chest. It scared him and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was or why. He just knew he wanted her safe, and that he had been the one to catch her when she passed out.

It was obvious that no one could recall, well no one aside for himself, Tsunade, Kakashi, Minato, himself… and apparently Obito and Shisui. Their eyes met his and he knew they remembered now but not how they felt about it.

That would be saved for another day..

Right now he had the light in his arms and he wasn't sure how he felt about letting it go.

*.**,

 **Author's note: So sorry it took so long! Here is chapter 8! I want to thank everyone for their reviews, they truly mean so much to me! For those who are following voices, I will be updating that in the next few days.**

 **Enjoy! Much love!**


	9. Chapter 9

Her head hurt.

No, scratch that, everything hurt.

Her body was sore, her muscles aching and her head felt as though it was going to split open.

There were distant voices and she fought to remember what happened and where she was. There were flashes of memories, the kind that eat at you and claw at something deep inside you. Then it came raining down on her.

The feeling of pain and betrayal. The look in her _friend's_ eyes as he watched the chaos around them erupt. She remembered the tears that spilled from her eyes and the exhaustion that followed… but she couldn't remember much else. The rest was muddled, like sunlight trying to get through dark water.

A groan came from her lips as her eyes slowly slipped open, only to close once more due to the amount of _whiteness_ there was to greet her. White walls, white light, white sheets.. she really needed to stop ending up in places like this.

"You're awake." This was becoming a bad habit.

"I am." She croaked, her throat sore from disuse. She felt the warmth of a hand help guide her into a sitting position. "Where is everyone? What happened?" She pressed after she was given a glass of water to help soothe her throat.

The raven haired male was silent for a long moment, "You stopped a beast from attacking many innocent people. You prevented many deaths. Your mother says you awakened."

Her breath hitched at this, "Gaara, where is Gaara?" panic filled her voice.

"He is meeting with Lord Minato as we speak. They are signing a peace treaty. There have been a few things that have come to light and apparently the desert have been double crossed because their own kage has been killed, leaving Gaara as their heir."

"Gaara is the new Kage of the sand?" A nod was all she was given. In her revelations, she missed the ticking of his jaw, the way his eyes narrowed at her worry for a man who had all but killed her friends and those in her village. Internally he knew she had such and huge heart that she couldn't help but feel for the sand nin, but seeing her like that, in his arms made something in the Uchiha heir's stomach churn. He had to restrain every urge he felt to beat the living shit out of the red head who she calmed. He wasn't sure why he felt so possessive or protective of the rosette, so he just chalked it up to her being his foolish little brother's teammate, the one with a gold heart and a titanium spine… and he refused to acknowledge any reason that he would notice so much about her.

Shaking her head, she turned to Itachi with a small smile, "Thank you, I'm sure it was you who brought me here."

"How can you be so sure?" He mused.

"Because in spite of how cold you try to make the world believe you are, your arms are mighty warm, and so is your heart." Her words made him look away. If only she knew what and who he truly was, she wouldn't give him such a warm look, "I told you, I don't want to see your flame go out." with that, he went and poked her softly on her forehead, except this time her reaction was different.

As he went to pull his hand away, she caught it in her own, holding to her chest, "Thank you.." she whispered, their eyes staring into the other's. He couldn't speak, he couldn't think, he could barely breath, those emerald eyes were molten, flecks of gold from the sunlight shining in and making them look like valleys of autumn trees. They were warm and made him forget where they were and what was going on. The voice in his head told him to look away, that he didn't deserve that sort of heart, but the selfish part of him wanted to watch them until all he could see was emerald pools.

Her heart was beating so erratically, it was making her dizzy. Her breathing was faster by a slight bit and her lips suddenly felt dry. She hadn't even realized she was now standing rather than sitting. His eyes were a smoldering grey, they cut right through her and made her fall into the depthless abyss. She thought it would scare her more, such intensity that it went right down to her core. She knew there were more thoughts in his head than he let on, and she knew she was playing with fire.

For who was she? But a twelve year old with a wide forehead and pink hair and a rather awkward body during her slowly moving pubescent years. The girl that had such baggage? Who was she when he was an Adonis in their world, the epitome of strength and sacrifice. He was strong, dedicated and faithful to his village and his precious people. She didn't dare even consider trying to climb to such a level. She may be a prodigy in her own right, but she doubted she could ever be on his level.

A soft knock at the door pulled them crashing back into time and space. Sakura slowly let Itachi's hand go, refusing to admit she missed the heat of it moment she did. He took a couple of steps back, making his heart squeeze being so far away from her after such intensity.

The door opened and the two backed away from one another, Itachi slipping on his cold, detached mask back on and Sakura smiling to herself.

A shock of red in a room of white was hard not to notice, "Sakura…" his voice was hesitant and filled with worry. Itachi ground his teeth together, deep glares coming from the heir before giving Sakura a small nod and leaving. Sakura frowned a bit as the heir left. Sakura looked up at the familiar set of sea foam eyes and all the effects of the man before him slowly floating away as anger, betrayal and frustration crept in. She knew she could never really be angry with him, not when he didn't really have a choice. "Gaara…" Sakura said after some silence, "I'm glad you've come by for a visit, I wish it were at a better place and under better circumstances." she mused lightly.

"I…" God, what the hell was he going to say to her? She's so calm and her eyes are still so warm, accepting, and filled with love. He thought she would be angry, throw things at him or throw _him_. He thought she would refuse to ever see him again and see in him the monster everyone feared him for… but there was no trace in any of that, not in her voice, not in her eyes, and not on her face.. "I'm sorry.." He finally said, his heart tearing into pieces as he did. He did not deserve her kindness, such a pure thing, in his life.

"Don't." She said with a wave of her hand, "We all make mistakes, and we all do what we have to when it comes to our village. For anyone to be upset with you would be a hypocrite." she flashed him a smile, "So, how does it feel to be a Kage?"

She just kept surprising him. "I uh, I'm not sure yet. So far it is just a lot of paperwork and meetings.." He answered honestly. He looked her over as he did. She seemed a lot better since that day. Guilt began to strike him, he didn't remember what exactly happened but he could remember the look of betrayal in her eyes that burned into his soul.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, you should tell that to Naruto, see how fast he rethinks being Hokage."

This was easy, speaking with her without judgement. His fear of her rejection became nonexistent, and her smile radiated the warmth that made him feel as though his insides were glowing. A few hours later, Shizune, Tsunade's assistant, came in and checked on the Haruno, having Gaara say goodbye.

Days later, Sakura was being escorted from the hospital by her team and they found themselves in front of the Hokage. "We were unable to finish the exams, but in the old times, promotions were given during times of war." Minato smiled warmly, but the guilt was deep inside his eyes. "Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee, Hyuuga Hinata, Akimichi Choji, Ten-ten… upon review of your testing, albeit some of you not passing your testing, you all showed great amounts of resilience, clear thinking, and helped our villagers to safety. Due to these things, you have all become Chuunin."

He received wide eyed looks before cheers came from all of those named, leaving Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Neji, and Nara Shikamaru on the sidelines confused. "Wait! What about Sakura-chan?!" called Naruto over the voices, causing everyone to quiet.

"Nara Shikamaru - you showed great calculations and helped devise a plan of attack. Hyuuga Neji, you fought against your enemy with assurance and great strength assured your success. Haruno Sakura, you faced your foes with great care and dignity. You saved many and fought gallantly. I am naming you three jounin." the room was so silent, one could hear a pin drop.

The guilt came from him because he had no choice to put them in the pool for ANBU. Minato did not want to subject them to that, but they were great fighters and Sakura needed those around her who could tame her should it come to it. He knew they would be enraged, his son most of all due to his protective nature over the rosette, but he had to ensure her safety and that of those around her.

"Albeit you being Jounin, you will still be allowed missions with your team. But, first and foremost, you three will be your own team. You will have two captains interchangeably and they will reveal themselves when it is adequate to do so." Minato couldn't make eye contact with anyone at the moment, especially not the teams of the three named Jounin. Especially not their leaders. Especially not his son.

"Hai." Sakura was the first to break the silence. She leaned forward in a deep bow, "I thank you for such trust in my abilities and the opportunity to further help my village. I will do well to be worthy of such a title." behind her, Shikamaru and Neji bowed in unison, followed by all the chuunin.

After being given their vests, they all left.

*.*.*.*

"This is such a drag.." Shikamaru groaned, shifting his weight onto his other foot.

"It isn't so bad." Sakura mused, sitting on the grass beneath the tree Neji leaned against. Hyuuga didn't say anything, but he felt the same as the Nara. He knew the lazy genius fairly well. They have sparred before and worked together in the past, but he knew close to nothing about the girl with the pink hair aside from what he witnessed during the exams. She was smart, fast, and strong and ultimately that was all that mattered.

"Who do you think our leaders will be?" Sakura asked at some point, she was becoming annoyed with sitting around and nothing to a. Sparring was restricted for her for another few days, so that was on the back burner for now.

"Sorry I'm late!" Came a familiar voice, causing a smile on the rosette's face as she threw her arms around the man.

"Shisui!" She cheered.

"Sakura-chan!" Shisui smiled brightly at the girl, to say there was a soft spot for her was an understatement. "Congrats on your promotion, all three of you. Albeit, I do wish it were under better circumstances and you being a little older, but what can ya do?" He mused lightly after he hugged the girl back.

The two males of the team gave him a nod, they both knew the Uchiha well, they may not have worked with him much, but he was a generally liked person and a damned good fighter. "So, I'm sure it was explained, I am only one of two leaders for this team - the reason being both myself and your other leader go on missions often and until you're all well seasoned Jounin, you will be on a team."

"Aren't we all the same level though?" Asked Nara.

"That we are! Again, this is only temporary until you are all able to be on your own. You may stay together or end up alone, we won't know until we get there. Training will be our main priority as well missions, obviously. The chance to sign up for ANBU will probably present itself, so I would start thinking about whether or not that is a road you want to take. That is a very serious decision, so if anyone wants to talk about it privately I am all ears." Shisui flashed a smile, "I wasn't really here for much of the Chuunin exams, only caught bits and pieces so I would like to go ahead and see what you are made of .. Pinky, you're excused from this because Hokage-sama already told me about your restrictions for a few days.

"I already know what you've got, but you each need to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses as well. So, as soon as you are cleared to go, we will have you front and center. Nara and Hyuuga, we will face off in the meantime." With that, and no warning, Shisui was on the two like white on rice.

Sakura watched with mild amusement and awe as the three fought, she guess Shisui was more hands on than she would have thought.

*.*.*.*

"It's a nice night."

"That it is." Silence was no stranger to them, but it was always comfortable. These nights were becoming more and more frequent since the whole show down during the exams. He came to visit often, late at night when the rest of the world seemed to be asleep. "Did you just get back?"

"Hn." His response made her smile, "About an hour ago. Had to unload." He mused.

"And shower."

"And shower." He said in agreement.

"You should be resting."

"As should you."

"Touche." Sakura smiled.

Itachi gave his signature smile back, the one reserved for his special people… and Sakura felt pretty damn special.

Over the months following the attack, Sakura continued training with Tsunade and Itachi turned out to be their other squad leader. She trained with both of her teams and each one of her captains one on one. She trained with her mom as well to keep whatever she was in check. Itachi and she became close, he visited her every night when he couldn't sleep, when he figured she wouldn't be able to sleep, or when he had caught wind that she was having a shitty day and didn't want her going to bed upset about anything.

He cared for her greatly, for her training, for her health and well-being, for her days, for.. her.. He knew she was only twelve, but her heart was so much older. They would talk about everything and anything, and sometimes just sat in a comfortable silence and enjoyed the feeling of being around someone who understood it.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and he moved closer to her to make it easier for her while he snaked his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him, his effort was to ward off the cold night.

"I miss you while you were away… Sasuke and Naruto took it really hard about me being promoted to Jounin… more so because they feel like we will grow apart or they won't be able to protect me anymore, which is ironic seeing as I'm usually protecting them." She laughed lightly. "I missed you because you understand. Because Shisui is great, and I love him - really.. and Shika and Neji are wonderful when you get to know them.. but they aren't _you._ I don't know if that makes sense… but you've become one of my best friends.."

His heart felt heavy, he didn't think he deserved such compassion. Looking down, he watched the girl that was watching him, a small smile on her lips. He found himself being drawn to them, but he didn't want to cross the line. He _couldn't._ She was his brother's teammate. She was twelve! She was the light in the darkness and he was nothing but a shadow with blood on his hands.. he didn't deserve all he knew she could and would give him.

"Don't do that." She said softly, "I do that. I think of every possible reason to reject those who care. Too afraid of the monster I think I am to want to be close.. don't do it to yourself. Don't punish yourself for how you've had to protect those you love. Don't. You deserve love. You deserve compassion. You deserve happiness, whatever those things may mean.. you deserve them all, so stop looking for reasons not to… because I honestly couldn't think of any. The only one who can think of you as a monster is yourself, no one else has that power, so please.. don't think of yourself that way.."

Her eyes were pools of emerald, endless. He felt like he was swimming and slowly drowning in them. He couldn't look away, and he wasn't so sure he would even if he could. She would become a great beauty, her outside would bloom to show what the inside already does..

And the thought made his chest tighten, she was so damn beautiful, it hurt to look at her sometimes. "We should get some rest. Training is going to be hell tomorrow." Her voice broke him out of his musings. He silently agreed and removed himself from his previous seat beside her on her rooftop. "Have a good night, Itachi."

"You too, Sakura." He smiled, he always made her blush when he said her name. He gave her a quick poke on the forehead, and before he could go, she reached up and planted a very brief and light kiss on his lips. "Night!" She beamed before disappearing into cherry blossoms, leaving a rather flushed and confused Itachi alone.

*.*.*.*

"Fuuuuccckkkkk.." Shikamaru groaned as he slowly dipped himself into the cold river. His body was sore and bruised and he could barely move his muscles. Training had been the epitome of fucked up. It was the first time both leads had been around for training and they did _not_ go easy.

Both teammates seemed to agree with his sentiment, Neji was splayed out in the river next to the Nara while Sakura was star fishing on the ground, her body still wet from her time in the river. She was only left in a tank top and her black shorts, her bindings thrown to the wayside along with her other clothing and sandals. The boys were too tired to feel embarrassment, not that Sakura gave a shit. She gave them the same "We are teammate and will see each other in a lot less than this so you better get used to it" speech.

Shisui and Itachi watched on in amusement at the young Jounin, giving most of their attention to the rosette, she was like family to them, spending as much time as possible at the compound visiting Sasuke and Naruto, as well as Mikoto. She would come by with her Jounin team as well when Shisui would invite them over for dinner or drinks (not that they were old enough to drink, but what others didn't know wouldn't hurt them). Neji always looked downcast while at the Uchiha compound, but he never complained and slowly got used to it.

"You guys did a great job today!" Smiled Shisui, earning a grunt and groan from his young teammates. "Just be grateful I'm not spouting on about youthfulness and wearing a green spandex suit!" He laughed, earning a pointed look from Neji.

"Yeah, being called a spring blossom does get tiresome.." Sakura muttered, earning a laugh from the eldest Uchiha.

"Right, well, when you're all done wallowing in self pity, there's a party tonight at the tavern for the newly appointed chuunin and Jounin since one was never able to be done yet. You guys should go get cleaned up and meet us there."

"You want _us_ to party after _that_?! I can barely move my body, let alone make it to a damn party!" Shot Shikamaru, earning grunts of agreement from the other two.

"Oh, come on. Sakura can heal the worst parts of it!" Smiled Shisui, which caused the rosette to throw him a rather tired glare.

"When is it, anyway?" Sakura finally asked.

"Not until about 8. I'm thinking because one of the teams are just coming back so they want everyone to be there. Think about it, okay?" Shisui shrugged before disappearing, leaving Itachi and the three young Jounin. The two boys eventually removed themselves from the river and helped each other home while Itachi helped Sakura.

"Get on my back." Itachi commanded softly.

Sakura had zero energy in her to argue with the Uchiha, so she did as told. She buried her face in his neck as the heat of his hands warmed her cold skin, making her feel a little flushed. "Sorry.." He finally said softly, he was trying to ignore the warmth of her breath fanning across his neck and the smell of vanilla and lavender that clung to the young girl. "I didn't think it would be that tough of a session. I guess we kind of went a little crazy."

A soft hum came from the girl but nothing else was said. Finally, when they arrived at her house, he was going to let her down, but she requested he stay. "Just for a little bit… before we have to go to the party. Mom is working at the hospital until late.."

He knew he shouldn't. He knew he should just drop her off and be on his way, but he couldn't help himself from not caring for what he _should_ be doing. So, instead, he did as she requested. He entered the house behind her and watched her silently as she removed her shoes at a rather slow pace and made her way up the stairs to her room. He walked behind her to assure she wouldn't fall or anything, or at least that's what he told himself.

When they got to her room, she stripped without thought and the Uchiha had to force himself to turn around and give her some privacy. She pulled on a robe and headed towards the bathroom. "I'll be back." She said in a tired voice before disappearing down the hall. Itachi wasn't sure what to do with himself so he settled for looking at her room. He took in the sight, she had a four poster bed with deep red covers and a canopy that was black. Her room was spotlessly clean and smelled of lavender and honey. She had two dressers (both a dark oak color), one closer to the door that was tall and a longer one by her double Bay windows that held a little cove. In the corner to his right, there was another little nook where a small black and red love seat sat and a lamp behind it, it's shade pointing over the seat. She had a bunch of pictures of her friends and family pinned to the wall above her bed, he couldn't help but look closer at them.

One was of her team with his brother. Her arms were casually hung around the two boys with a big smile on her lips, his brother had a smirk on his face and Naruto had the brightest smile in the picture. Kakashi stood behind them putting bunny ears on the two males. They all looked so happy. Another picture caught his attention, it was one of her new Jounin team, Neji was a slight scowl on his face and Shikamaru in the middle of rolling his eyes while Sakura smiled brightly. Another next to it was of her and Shisui, another of her and his own mother and another of her and her parents..

But the one that caught his eye was a picture he remembered taking just to appease her. It was some time after she had gotten out of the hospital and became a Jounin. He remembered it was after a particularly intense training, and still she was vibrant. Their arms were draped around each other's shoulders and she did the peace sign as he smiled down at her. "They're all my precious people. The ones I strive to protect. The ones I refuse to let down. I hope you realize that you are in that category at well, hence the picture." Her voice broke him from his trance and he turned to her.

"I really don't understand." He finally said after taking in her more casual appearance. She wore a black skirt that fell at her knees and a white blouse on top.

"Then don't try." She shrugged and walked over to him, "Sometimes the greatest mysteries in life are left just as that… mysteries." He gave her a slight smile and dipped his head in agreement. "Now, let's go get you cleaned up and head to the party, something tells me it wasn't just a suggestion Shisui gave us to go." she laughed.

Itachi watched her for a moment longer before agreeing and following her back down stairs.

*.*.*.*

When they finally arrived at the party it was in full swing. People were chatting and laughing, someone was doing karaoke and others were just dancing or drinking. When they entered, Naruto yelled for Sakura and Sasuke was behind him shortly. The two gave Sakura big hug and said hello to Itachi. Shisui cheered happily and waved the two over, so Sakura dragged the two boys with her as she followed Itachi through the crowd. "You guys made it!" Shisui laughed, "Good, good! The two others are milling around here somewhere, probably with their teams." Sakura glanced around and caught sight of her other two teammates and gave them a wave, which they gave back… of course, both their teams stared at them in surprise before they went back to whatever they were doing.

After some time of talking and playing drinking games (Sakura only drank water because she was already feeling out of it) Shisui got up on stage, catching everyone's attention as he asked for it (well, demanded it). "I just want to say congrats to all the promotions, to you chuunin, I'm glad we've got you all. You will help lead us into peace time. And to those who've made Jounin, I know it may be a shitty deal sometimes, but I couldn't have picked a better team if I tried." Everyone cheered and hooted.

"Okay, so before I let the party resume, I want to wish a very happy birthday to a very special person." everyone went silent and there was a Crimson looking Sakura. How did he find out? She always kept it a secret, she always avoided the topic of her birthday. "Sakura, since the day you arrived you have shown nothing but unwavering strength, courage, faith, and kindness to our village. You may not be from Konoha originally, but you protect the village with such passion. We are so lucky to have you, happy birthday, baby girl!"

From the back, there was a separation of people as Mebuki walked forward with a rather large cake and went towards Sakura, who was the same color as her hair. When she arrived in front of her daughter, Mebuki began singing happy birthday and everyone joined in. "Happy birthday, my love." She smiled at the end, "You're father is so very proud of you. He sends his love and affections and regrets nothing more than not being here to celebrate this day with you."

Sakura was fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. She missed her father so damn much. Mebuki placed the cake on a table and hugged her daughter tightly. "I love you so much, mama." Sakura whispered.

"Alright! Time to parrrtttaaayyyy!" Shisui cheered, causing everyone to go crazy once more. Various people came by and gave the rose hugs and birthday wishes, but she could feel the gaze of someone else the whole time. When she looked up, it was that familiar set of eyes she had become so accustomed to seeing. A small smile lifted the corners of his lips and it was more than any words could ever say.

*.*.*.

"You never mentioned it was your birthday.." Itachi pointed out as they walked home from the party. Sakura called it a day a few hours later as she was so exhausted. She insisted her mom stay and hang out with Mikoto, Rin, Tsunade, and Kushina… lord knew the women all needed some time together.

"I just… I don't care for it much. Never feels the same when dad isn't here.."

Itachi kept silent as they walked, he could understand not wanting to celebrate her birthday, his mom made a big deal out of his, but he didn't care for it much.

When they reached her house, they stared at each other for a long moment then smiled at each other. "Thank you for walking me home."

"You're welcome. I'm afraid I don't have a gift to give you." Sakura waved off his worry, "Don't worry, I'm not big into gifts anyway."

They said their goodbyes as normal, with him giving her a delicate poke on her forehead. As he turned to walk away, he stopped and turned back to her, grabbing her arm before she went through the threshold into her home. "Itachi..?"

Before she could ask anything further, he pulled her close to him and kissed her deeply. The kiss was hot and deep, his soul talking to hers saying everything he didn't know how to say. After the initial shock, Sakura kissed him back. When they pulled away, they were both flushed and heavy lidded. "Happy birthday, Sakura." his voice was husky and his eyes filled with mirth. She could barely think, all she could say was , "Yeah, you too.." A smile lifted on his mouth once more before he disappeared, leaving a flustered Sakura in his wake.

 _What the fuck just happened?_


	10. Chapter 10

A light tapping on her window woke her from her deep sleep. She knew who it was but humored him anyway. Slowly, she opened the window for him and he slipped right in. Off went his cloak, shirt and sandals - all discarded neatly on the little cove by the window. He moved fluidly to her bed and lie there as though it was the only place he wanted to be. As if he were home. Another restless night brought him to her. Another night filled with screaming ghosts of Christmas past and a guilty conscious.

He waited as she lie beside him and cuddled against him. She didn't ask questions and he didn't offer answers. He was glad she never prodded and allowed him to talk whenever or should he ever want to. As she drifted off to sleep, so did he, and it was a sleep he so desperately yearned for, the kind that came from the comfort only she could give him.

The mornings were like all the ones before it, except recently they would share heated looks, a poke on the forehead and a quick, sweet kiss on the lips before he made his departure . Itachi didn't care much for them to get caught, but he wanted her reputation to stay intact and he didn't want her mother to worry about a boy trying to take advantage of her daughter - which he would never do, regardless of how is body responded to hers and vise versa.

As of late, it had become harder and harder to leave, and he left later and later. They kept things innocent, as she was 13 and he 17 and while that didn't really mean much to shinobi, some people would frown upon it. Not that he cared much, but once again he wanted to keep her reputation intact.

He made sure to challenge her during trainings, never giving her a break because he knew better. Shisui would take it easy sometimes and he could see it in Sakura's eyes that she hated it. He also noticed the respect her teammates gave her when she pushed herself. He never, in anyway, played favorites. What they did behind closed doors did not impact them on the field and he was grateful that Sakura had the same line of thought.

Sure, it was becoming common knowledge that the two spent time together and there had been a ton of speculation - his own family (brother and cousin included) which of course out right just asked him what the hell was going on, but he had a deep seeded feeling that they would approve of whatever he said - except Mikoto would probably be upset if he told her nothing was going on between himself and the Rosette, his mother loved her to death and his father respected her, it was a hard thing for that the happen.

He also knew that Naruto and a few of her friends, especially a blonde haired girl, she was a Yamanaka he knew, dogged her for answers which she never gave. If Sakura was curious herself, she never said anything. He himself was a bit confused, but wouldn't mention it. He figured if she was comfortable with what they were doing now, then so was he. They would take it as it came.

That's what he enjoyed most about Sakura, she wasn't demanding. She didn't ask him hundreds of questions, she didn't feel the need to constantly keep their comfortable silence filled with talking. She knew when to give him time and space and when he needed her. They talked about so much and yet they enjoyed the silence as well. There had been plenty of times where they would just sit somewhere and read or relax, no words exchanged.

She didn't see him as a shinobi. She didn't seem him as the monster he saw himself. She didn't ask him about his past or what he thought his future would look like, although it had been something he offered to talk about. She was supportive and kind, never asking for what she herself wouldn't give.

Then it dawned on him..

What was this feeling?

He didn't know, and part of him was terrified to ask. To know. They say ignorance is bliss and he never for one second ever believed that, but for this one instant, he could understand the saying. Itachi was never terrified, and it was a rather bold feeling, not one that he was sure if he hated or not. It made him feel human.

She made him feel _human_.

*.*.*.*

"I did it." Sakura said softly, "I did it! I did it!" Sakura cried, jumping into her Shishou's arms. Tsunade smiled warmly at her pupil as the girl jumped back. There, placed smack in the center of her forehead, was a purple diamond. "I am very proud of you.."

Sakura cocked her head to the side, "But..."

" _But_ , I have taught you all that I can. You know everything I know and then some. Your strength has increased to maybe one day over power my own. Your medical prowess outshines my own. Healing is in your blood, Sakura, it isn't a surprise that you would surpass me so easily.. You have mastered two of my sacred techniques, there isn't much else I can teach you. Congrats, Sakura, you have surpassed a Sannin."

Sakura gave a watery smile before launching herself at her Shishou. "Thank you, for everything. You came back home just to teach me. You have stayed beside me through it all... Thank you." Sakura said softly.

"Just so you know, this isn't goodbye. I've decided to stay a little longer. I have invested too much time in you to just walk away. You're stuck with me, kiddo. We will still train, of course, I need to make sure you stay grounded. Can't let all this power go to your head."

"I couldn't think of anything better." Smiled Sakura.

Slowly, the two walked back from the training grounds.

"So tell me, what is happening between you and the Uchiha?" Mused Tsunade.

Sakura blushed deeply, "That is a very good question."

"Oh?"

"Ah.." Sakura glanced away, "We are close friends. We talk about _everything_ and anything. I can be myself around him and he doesn't fear me. He doesn't take my kindness for granted. He doesn't baby me. Kakashi-sensei, he used to baby me. I know he did it because he didn't want me, or any of us, to go too deep too fast, but …" Sakura shrugged, "And Shisui still does it time to time, he takes it easy on me, maybe not consciously, but I can feel it. Shikamaru and Neji both know better than to pull that shit.. But Itachi, he's consistent." Tsunade remained silent as she listened to the young girl. It did not surprise her in the least that the two would find each other. Sakura was an old soul and so was Itachi. Both painfully faithful to the village and their precious people. Both pacifists. Both kind souls, regardless of what Itachi allowed other people to think.

"Well, speak of the devil, and he shall appear." Tsunade smirked. Sakura looked at her puzzled, only for her to follow the blonde's line of vision and see Uchiha Itachi patiently waiting. Sakura couldn't imagine what or who he would be waiting for. "Well, he ain't waiting for me. Go get em' tiger." Tsunade said, giving Sakura a push forward, giving the Uchiha a sly wink before heading the opposite way.

Itachi cocked his head to the side as he watched the rosette walk his way. "Hey." Sakura beamed, "I did it!" She cheered, mostly out of nerves. Itachi's lips lifted into a smile when he noticed the purple diamond on her delicate forehead (which she thought too big, but he thought was adorable).

"I see that. Congratulations." He said softly. A light blush dusted her cheeks, "Thank you." Sakura answered softly, looking off to the side.

"I wanted to see if you had dinner already."

"I uh... No, I've been training with Shishou all day. Did you have something in mind?" Sakura asked, her blush a little brighter. She felt like a little school girl most of the time now, ever sense she and Itachi had been hanging out more and more, she slowly grew fond of him in more ways than one. She grew attached in both platonic and not so platonic ways. Something told her, though, that if Itachi had different intentions, he wouldn't act the way he does with her. He seeks her out, they can barely sleep without each other at this point. They were used to seeing each other at least one time a day, and when they didn't, people could tell it right away. They snuggled, kissed, hung out doing absolutely nothing at times, but it always felt natural and real. She didn't have to pretend, she didn't have to hide or hold back.

"Mhm, there's always ramen." Itachi mused as he watched the pinkette go from a blush to a hue of green.

"Dear lord, no... I get sick just thinking about it. Ugh, how does Naruto even eat that so often?" She grumbled.

"Hn, we can go elsewhere. Come." Itachi said softly. Sakura nodded and followed behind then walked beside him. As they walked amongst the people lingering around the village, Sakura watched them with a smile on her face and was pulled from her mindless wander when she felt a soft warmth engulfing her hand. Glancing down, Sakura blushed once more as her head popped up. Uchiha Itachi was holding her hand.

In public.

Where everyone could see.

Another smile threatened to pull at his lips, he knew she was blushing, he could see it in his peripheral vision. He enjoyed how easily she became flustered and how his mere presence made her warm up. He would be a liar if he said he didn't feel it too. The electricity in the air between them. The yearning, the secret need and want. The hunger that came from friendship and became something of its own all together. When he looked at her, she wasn't a Sannin's apprentice, she wasn't a Haruno, she wasn't a girl with massive strength or amazing abilities – yes, those were all things he truly enjoyed about her, but when he looked at her, when he _saw_ her, she was this ball of light. She warmed him down to his bones and soul, she lit up the world around him from the time she entered his life. From the moment they would have to say their goodbyes to when they said hello again. After a hard day's work and before a long day, on the sunny and rainy days – through it all, her warmth clung to him. She was like a security blanket for him, there to keep him warm and secure. She kept him grounded. She kept him coming home.

It kept him waking up with an optimistic mood. When he couldn't sleep, or when his mind was a mess, he found comfort in her presence – and even though he could find such a thing with Shisui (the comfort), he found it more so with Sakura in a way that Shisui couldn't. Although Sakura never said anything in so many words, well not in those exact words, he knew she felt the same. She was always so willing to comfort him. To allow him into her room and snuggle with him in her bed, regardless of never did anything more. He would hold her and she chased away the dreams he had. She chased away the pain, the blood on his hands. The filth of a dirty conscious. She gave him the rest he could never achieve alone. She was a drug and he had no intention of stopping the high she gave him.

Somewhere in his mind, he knew he should walk away.. He knew he should end whatever this was, for her own good. He knew he should disengage, but the idea of hurting her only made his chest tighten and his heart ache. Maybe he was being selfish. But then again, weren't they both indulging? Weren't they both in this? She wanted him as much as he wanted her, there was no denying that. Yes, there was an age difference, but he could barely bring himself to care. He was 17 and she 13, and although some would frown upon such a thing, the shinobi world (especially jounin) did not take into account one's age. Everyone died the same.

So, why not be a little selfish when all his life he has done nothing but give his time, life, soul, body, blood, sweat, and tears for his village. He wasn't truly being selfish, not when he was giving himself to someone who gave just as much to him. "Shishou... asked what was going on between us, and I wasn't sure what to say."

Ah, so she finally asked.

To be honest, he wasn't sure either. He had never really been in a relationship – he turned away any possibly match the elders would give him for possible future brides and dedicated his time to his duties for the village and helping his clan in every way _but_ that way. He had sex, that was unfortunately something he couldn't experience with her for a first. Well, it would be the first with someone he actually cared for and had a connection with.

Wait.

 _What?_

Itachi mentally shook his head.

Either way, Itachi realized she was waiting for a response, rather patiently mind you – that was another thing about her he admired. She was straight and to the point, never beating around the bush and yet had great amounts of patience, anyone who had to deal with his foolish little brother and the kyuubi container and Uchiha Shisui _had_ to be patient, and he was glad she was.

"I think they call it a relationship, if that's what you would like to call it." Itachi finally answered.

"So... We're... dating?" Sakura asked, struggling to string a sentence together. A slight nod fell from the man.

"Only if you'd like to." He added.

"I mean, I would love that. But what do _you_ want?" She asked.

Itachi smiled this time, a real smile. He looked down at her and held up their intertwined hands, "I want this. Whatever you want to call it, I want us. You. This.. That's what I want, and I don't care what it's called as long as it means having you by my side."

Sakura blushed once more and nodded, "I do too." She smiled and she had no idea of the fluttering in his stomach or how bright she made his world. Whatever this was, was still young and growing, but he wanted to see where it led. He needed to see. And he wanted/needed to see it with her.

*.*.*.*

"Soooooo, do you think if you gave him a little pudding before training, he'll give us a break?" Smirked Shikamaru. Sakura cocked her head and stared at the pineapple haired male.

"Mhm, how about I show you just how monstrous _my_ strength is?" Sakura deadpanned. The Nara went pale and looked away. "I was just joking.. troublesome.." He murmured under his breath, an embarrassed blush creeping up his neck. A light chuckle came from beside them. Hyuuga was leaning his back against a tree with his eyes closed.

"What are you giggling about over there?" Nara groaned, Haruno clicked her tongue, stifling a laugh of her own.

"You shouldn't talk to her like that, you might end up doing worse than any better. You would probably face both of their wrath. Haven't you realized? Haruno and Uchiha (both of them) are sadists."

"No idea what you're talking about." Sakura shrugged, "I would never enjoy punching Shikamaru into next week."

"I can hear the sincerity in your voice." Hyuuga smirked. Nara shook his head, "Troublesome."

"Well, if you are done speculating Haruno and my private relationship, I think a spar would be needed." The new voice made all three jounin jump to their feet. Nara's embarrassment shot up ten times fold.

"I was just.. joking.." His voice was small as his eyes landed on his shoes.

"Mmmm.. I wasn't." Itachi deadpanned before launching at the Nara, who was able to barely dodge the hit.

Sakura and Neji nodded at each other and started sparing with one another.

When it was all said and done, Haruno gathered onto Uchiha's back as per normal. Her mother was at the hospital, also per normal, when he brought her inside. Haruno's mother had left food in the oven for them, she was more than aware that the young man frequented her daughter, and it said much about her trust for him as she did not stop such nightly visits, his presence at most of their meals, nor of him taking her daughter away so frequently if she was not at the hospital, training, with Sasuke/Naruto, or on missions (which also included Itachi more times than not). To be honest, if there was anyone Mebuki trusted, it would be Itachi. Mebuki also knew that Kizashi approved of the pair as he said so himself within one of his many letters to the two Haruno women. They sat down and ate before taking turns in showering. Once they finished and were dressed in clean clothing (which Uchiha now had his own drawer while Naruto and Sasuke had a place in her closet), the two relaxed in the living room and read amongst themselves. Sakura's head popped up, her eyes darkening.

Itachi noticed the rosette's sudden movements, his eyebrow raising in question. Sakura got to her feet slowly, a look of focus on her face. "Sakura?" Itachi asked, slowly rising as well. It started suddenly; suffocating and a tad bit painful – Sakura's chakra shot out from her body and shrouded around them, wisps of orange swirling around them. "Sakura.." Itachi's voice sounded more urgent now. Before he could even blink, Sakura was running out of the house. Itachi didn't have to think before he was running right after her. He followed her as she made a beeline right towards the hospital.

*.*.*.*

 _When you die, you don't know you're dead._

 _You don't feel the pain of those around you._

 _You don't see the anguish._

 _The tears._

 _You don't see or feel anything, just the darkness that comes after.._

 _But in the darkness, a whisper comes and it's.._

 _Beautiful._

 _A ray of orange slowly ripped through the darkness and grasped at him._

 _There was a pull, and then suddenly he was yanked into a world he could have sworn he had left behind.. And beside him, with eyes glowing orange and orange wisps of chakra swirling around the room, stood his only daughter. His blood on her hands and on her clothing._

" _You said you'd be back..._

 _You said you'd come back..._

 _You promised!"_

 _A scream ripped through the air, the girl slowly collapsing towards the ground, falling into warm arms as he stared at the girl..._

" _Kizashi!" The words were muddled in his ears, muffled with the confusion as to what just happened._

"Kizashi!" The voice shot through and soon the world was moving at normal speed.

Realization suddenly dawned on him and he shot from the bed his body once lie on, cold and broken. His eyes glanced over his own body, all the wounds that shrouded his body were now wiped away, as if they'd never existed. "Sakura..."

"There's going to be consequences, but we're not sure what those may be." Came Tsunade's voice from the sidelines.

"Does anyone mind explaining what just happened to me?" Itachi asked, his patience running thin.

*.*.*.*

 _Rewind_

Sakura ran as though the devil was nipping at her heels. She ran over roofs at a break neck pace, Itachi running right behind her. She shot through the doors of the hospital and ran up several sets of stairs before she shot through another set of doors. When she got to the room, she froze on spot. Her shishou stood over a body, the heart monitor flat lined, but that hair.. And that body..

" _No."_ Sakura whispered. Behind, Itachi broke through, Mebuki right beside him. The three stood there, frozen as Tsunade turned to them, pale. She didn't bother to yell at them for entering an OR, she didn't say a word, the sight spoke for it's self. "No...No... _no!"_ Around her, the world slowly crumbled and faded away. She stood in a darkness, calling out for him. Calling for him to come back. Outside, everyone stared at the rosette, orange chakra was flaring at a deadly rate, raking its fingers across the room and growing every second. Her eyes were nothing but orange, no iris, nothing.

"Sakura! Stop! Don't do this!" Cried Mebuki. There was a twitch. Then another. Then another. And suddenly, the body that lie broken and cold on the table shot up, gasping for air. Albeit in a daze, he slowly turned to those in the room. Realization was evident on his face, shooting from the bed and staring at the girl in the Uchiha's arms. "Sakura.."

*.*.*.*

" _We don't know what she's capable of."_ The words were soft, " _No one knows what our elder was capable of. No one knows what power she had. She created and destroyed, and it seems she has finally been reincarnated."_

"Is she dangerous?" Itachi asked, his eyes staring at the girl resting in his arms, he refused to let her go. He sat on the bed with her cradled in his arms.

"I don't know.." Mebuki answered honestly.

"What are the repercussions of what happened in there?" Itachi asked now..

"If it's anything like the rebirth, it can take time off her life span. That's if its like that." Tsunade sighed, "But I haven't a clue. I honestly don't know. She... she brought a man from the dead. The only thing I've ever heard of close to this is when the person gives a portion of or all of their life force to the person they're bringing back. I don't think that's what's happened, usually the person dies or very least goes into a coma, obviously, neither of which has happened." Both the Uchiha and Haruno nodded, both stuck in silence.

"How is Mr. Haruno?" Itachi finally asked.

"He's resting, there is some shock there and while all his wounds are gone, his body must still be dealing with the effects of being brought from the dead. " Tsunade answered. "I'm going to go fill the others on what has happened. Your brother and cousin, Naruto, the Hyuuga and Nara are all in the lobby hassling my nurses about her." Tsunade shook her head, giving Sakura one last long look before leaving the room. Mebuki decided she aught to go check on her husband, leaving Itachi and Sakura alone.. And then the damn broke. "Why.. Why would you do it?" He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. "What if we lost you.. We wouldn't... I wouldn't know what to do.." And for the first time in a really long time, a tear escaped his eyes. Crimson stared down at the heart shaped face of the woman in his arms, tracing every curve and outline of her face, committing it to memory. "Please, please.. don't leave me, I need you.." He whispered. A small smile graced her lips, "I need you too.." Her voice was small and tired.

"I didn't mean to do that, I don't even know how that happened." Sakura admitted, "I''m sorry, but I'm not sorry about bringing my dad back... God, he was _dead_. I didn't feel anything.. and then I felt _everything..._ And all I knew was I needed to bring him back.. And then he was." Itachi leaned down and kissed her deeply, pulling her closer to him. Sakura pushed her fingers into his silky hair, pulled his head closer to her and kissed him back, just as passionately. Their kiss said everything words couldn't and they _knew._

"Well then." Someone cleared their throat, "Good to see you're awake." Sakura glanced over her shoulder and smiled at her father. "Dad.." She said softly, slowly crawling off of Itachi and walking over to her father. They embraced and tears spilled from both Harunos. Itachi got up and walked out of the room, leaving father and daughter alone. "We will have to talk about it, but not right now. God, not right now.." He whispered into his daughter's hair, "I love you so fucking much, I am so sorry..."

Sakura nodded, "I love you too..." She whispered into his shoulder, "Don't be sorry, I'm not."

*.*.*.*

 **Author's note: Tada! A new chapter! I am so sorry my responses are taking so long lately, just have a lot going on and I am lacking inspiration lately. I will be updating** _ **Voices**_ **as soon as I can, I just need to get a few things taken are of.**

 **AmethystWind95: I'm unsure what you mean, I did mention that Kakashi knows who Naruto was. He mentions that he is the Hokage's son. I guess I should go more in depth of their relationship, seeing as Naruto barely knew Kakashi before that point. My idea is that since Kakashi is a jounin, he rarely was in the village hence why Naruto barely ever met him, if at all. Maybe I'll do a chapter dedicated to their relationships with each other. Thank you for the review!**

 **Lunaerfaerie2010: Don't worry, I have 0 intentions of killing Minato and or Kashina. Poor Naruto had enough heartache in the real anime, I'm not gonna do that to him.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Much love.**


	11. Chapter 11

If her parents saw her, no, if her _dad_ saw her.. hell would break loose. Good thing her parents were on a date, like she had encouraged them to do a few weeks after the whole fiasco at the hospital. They had yet to have a conversation about the whole ordeal, Minato hadn't been able to deal with anything at this time with everything else going on. He was very aware of what had happened and wanted to have the conversation, but he wanted to do it when he could give them his undivided attention. Tsunade, on the other hand, had been keeping a very close eye on both parties in case the aftermath decided to come catching up to them.

She sighed heavily. How in the hell had she allowed Ino to talk her into this was beyond her. "Come on forehead, hurry up. The guys are waiting!" Ino called from the bathroom.

Sakura grumbled something under her breath as she adjusted her dress. Her rather short dress. Sakura was not someone who went out much. She didn't drink much. She didn't go to clubs. She didn't dance. She didn't do this. Another sigh came as she continued to fidget with them hem of her dress. It was a classic black dress, a halter at the top with a rather dangerously low cut v-neck and a short hem. The dress clung to her like a second skin, highlighting her curves, the ones still in development. She was 13 going on 15, maybe.

She wore strapped heals, her short hair in curls framing her made up face, thanks to Ino's insistence. Smokey eyes stared back at her, it made her eyes look smoldering. To say she looked sexy was an understatement, which made her feel uncomfortable.

The only reason she even agreed (aside from Ino's continuous whining) was because both sets of her teams were going. Even the Uchiha. Especially the Uchiha. Itachi was being pulled along by Shisui and Sasuke only agreed because of Naruto. Neji was being pulled on by Ten-ten and Shikamaru was being pulled on by Ino as she was.

"Damn, Forehead.. knock em' dead why don't you." Ino mused. Ino was nothing short of breath taking herself. She wore a deep purple dress, which hugged her rather nicely. Her hair was in spirals as well, but swept up. She was 13 going on 24. Ino had rather nice curves and was already well endowed. "Aren't we dressed rather provocative for 13 year olds?"

"We are kunoichi. In our world, 13 equals 25 at least. If we are old enough for seduction missions, we are old enough to party, drink and look sexy." Ino shot back, fixing up her flawlessly done make up. "Now come on. I know Shikamaru is probably driving every one crazy with his constant moaning and groaning about having to be out."

Sakura smiled at this and nodded. "Fine. Fine."

*.*.*.

The bar was already packed with shinobi when they got there. Very scantily clad shinobi. When they entered, an echo of cheers came from the aforementioned boys waiting for them at the bar. Ino dragged Sakura through the crowd to get beside their beloved teammates. As promised, Shikamaru looked dejected, almost as much as Neji and Sasuke did. A warm arm wrapped around Sakura's shoulders, "So glad you could make it, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered, causing the rosette to smile brightly, "I didn't particularly have a choice." She shrugged.

She sat beside a rather bored looking Sasuke (who was cradling a drink). He dipped his head in greeting. His eyes swept over her appearance and his eyebrow rose a few inches. Sakura blushed lightly, "Ino." Was her only answer.

"You know, if my brother were a lesser man, he would probably break everyone's neck in here who dare look you over. And he would claim you right on this counter. If he were a lesser man." Sasuke mused, which caused the rosette to glare at him.

"And since he is not, what do you think he'll do then?" Sakura mused dryly.

"Probably slit all their throats and throw you over his shoulder, lock you up in the house and throw away the key." Sasuke shrugged. Sakura rolled her eyes and ordered a drink of her own.

"I thought you said your brother wasn't a lesser man." Sakura muttered.

"Mhm, hence why he is much more stealthy in his actions." Sasuke shot back.

Sakura shook her head and before she could respond, a warm arm wrapped around her shoulders once more, "Sakura-chan, come dance with me!" Naruto shouted above the music, as if he even needed a reason to shout. Sakura glanced over at Sasuke, a pleading look in her eyes. He smirked and waved her goodbye, her glare hot on him as she was yanked from her chair. Before Naruto was able to get too far, Sakura took two of Ino's shots as she was hauled away. Sasuke knew he was poking the bear by allowing their obnoxious friend to play with fire, but he wanted to see it anyway. He knew exactly how Itachi would react whenever he got there. This would be too good to pass up.

The alcohol hit her system fairly fast, mostly because she hadn't eaten much that day - well, nothing at all, now that she thought about it. While she could simply burn it out of her system, she decided to take Ino's advice and just let loose. She was 13 going on 40, constantly busy. She barely had a social life outside of work, training, missions, and now Itachi. She still tried to make time to hangout with both her teams, her parents, and her girls - but she always spread herself too thin.. so why not?

She deserved to act her age every once in a while. Ino joined them on the dance floor, a flushed looking Shikamaru behind her. The blonde handed Sakura and Naruto two more shots each, which both took with smiles. All four of them took their shots and kept dancing. It was nice to see Shikamaru let go, which made her feel better about letting go. Some how, Naruto and Ino began dancing while Shikamaru danced with Sakura, his hands on her hips and her back pressed against his body.

They were all lost in the music. For the night, they weren't teammates, they weren't shinobi, they weren't killers or protectors. They were teenagers having fun. They were bodies lost in the rhythm that filled the air and the burning of alcohol that spilled through their systems. Sakura's head lulled back onto Shikamaru's shoulder as their hips swayed together and as the beat took them far away.

Somewhere, in her brain, she was registering what was going on. But neither of them cared, then again, neither of them were taking it as more than it was. Yes, if Shikamaru were a lesser man, and if Sakura wasn't taken - he would probably be making a move right now. He couldn't deny the attraction he felt towards her from the day they met, which only grew as they became a team. He knew for a fact Neji had the same uncomfortable feeling which they came to just accept. It was hard not to like the girl with a heart shaped face, rose colored hair and depthless emerald eyes. The girl who could take life just as fast as she could give it, who's fists were deadly but who's hands were warm.

She had such a big heart and such a powerful ambition. He realized, a while ago, that yes both he and Neji felt this, but they also loved her in a way that wasn't lust. They loved her for the mother hen she could be. While she didn't verbally say anything for the most part, her actions always spoke volumes. She would look each one of them over with her critical and calculating eyes. She would make sure they all ate and rested well, make sure they took it easy when needed and pushed themselves when she knew they could.

If anyone believed in them, any of them, it was Haruno Sakura. She was the glue that kept them together, both of her teams. It was clear the love Shisui shared as well, but it was obvious he loved her in a familial way as they did - well, as they had to force themselves to. Some part of him was jealous of the Uchiha even though he knew they were pretty much perfect for each other. In all honesty, he probably couldn't pick a more deserving person for her.

Uchiha Itachi was someone who would give his very life for the village, who would slit his own throat with no hesitation if it meant peace amongst them. He was selfless, regardless of the cold mask of indifference he held to the world. While the two were private with their affections, it was clear as day how he treated her. He didn't treat her like a porcelain doll, no, he had way too much respect for her to do that. He treated her like his equal, like his partner, like his other half. He gave as much as he took, if not more. The look in his eyes when she wasn't watching, when the Uchiha thought no one would notice, was enough to make whatever he himself felt for the rosette hail in comparison.

But he didn't want to think about him. Shikamaru didn't want to think about what feelings he had or what could have been. He didn't want to think at all. All he wanted was to be lost in the moment with his two important female friends, his two female teammates. The two women he would trust his life with any day of the week, and the Uzumaki who was so caught up in dancing with Ino it was rather interesting to watch. Usually the two blonde's went at each other's throats, but it seemed maybe alcohol subdued them and made them bond. Maybe having to share their teammates made them bond as well, whatever the reason, he had to admit it was nice.

What none of them noticed, due to their alcohol induced haze, was a pair of crimson eyes staring right at them. "They're teenagers. We both know nothing is going on between them." Shisui shrugged. "I mean, he and Hyuuga may have had some feelings for her at first, maybe even still, but they care for her in more of a familial way now. Just as I do. She's like my little sister." Itachi narrowed his eyes at his elder cousin. "I'm not making this any better, am I?" He asked. He was met with silence. "Well then, shots are calling my name. You have fun with that. Just don't forget, we have a mission in a couple of days, don't do anything Sakura can't heal." With that, Shisui shot towards the bar.

Itachi watched a little longer, internally debating on what he should do. Should he go over and get in between? Should he just leave? His eyes drank in the sight of her. Her hair was stuck against her face due to the sweat on her skin. Her body was clad in a rather sinfully sexy dress and she wore heels that just made her long legs endless. She was the epitome of everything he wanted and his blood boiled as he watched another man's hands on her hips.

This wasn't something he was used to feeling. Uchiha Itachi did not do jealousy. He knew that Shisui was right. He trusted Sakura more than he trusted himself - she would never do anything to hurt him or their relationship. He also knew both the Nara and Hyuuga, as his cousin mentioned, had feelings for the Haruno, but shoved it down and allowed their attraction to become platonic and familial. They respected Itachi and especially Sakura too much to do so otherwise.

But still, he didn't like the scene before him. Growling beneath his breath, he followed after his cousin's example and went to the bar. He was going to need to loosen up himself if he was going to deal with this whole thing.

Shisui had just ordered two shots for himself and another two shots for Sasuke when Itachi showed up. Before either Uchiha could say anything, Itachi took all four shots back to back, earning his brother and cousin to openly gawk at him. "Seriously?! I haven't even had anything to drink yet!" Shisui cried when he got over his initial shock. Itachi turned his coal colored eyes to his cousin, "Then order some more." He answered simply, earning a smirk from Sasuke. Shisui shot both of them a look before ordering two more drinks. From the corner of his eye, Shisui could see Kakashi, Obito, Rin and a few other Jounin entering the bar. This would be great, he thought sarcastically .

Itachi took off his over shirt, leaving him in his netted under shirt that hung over a black tank top. His hair was still pulled into its signature pony tail as his eyes darkened into a stormy darkness. Amusement lit in both Uchiha's eyes as they watched the usually stoic Itachi slowly loosen up. After taking a few more shots, Itachi smirked and made his way through the crowded dance floor.

A familiar shock of silver hair appeared next to the two males, "Was that.."

"Yep." Sasuke answered.

"And is that.."

"Yep." Shisui answered next.

"Well, shit." Kakashi mused, earning a chuckle from Obito and Rin who sat beside them.

Sakura was so engrossed in the music and the floating going on in her head that she didn't even notice another hot body coming in contact with her. A strong arm snaked around her waist and pulled her from where she had been, Nara smirked and shook his head and went to find himself some water. At least he got the hint.

Sakura kept dancing and it took all of Itachi's strength not to kiss her senseless right there and then, to claim her with everyone around them. Instead he took Nara's place, his hands on her hips and her back pressed hard against his body. A soft whimper came from her lips, he knew she was aware of exactly who was behind her and a fire grew in his stomach from the whimper he had solicited from her. He wanted to hear more of it. Before he could even comprehend what he was doing, he pushed her hair to the side and licked her neck, biting it softly as he brought her painfully close to his body. He was awarded another soft moan. He was a masochistic, really. Why on earth would he punish himself in such a way? He knew they wouldn't go too far. Their relationship was still so fresh and she was still young.

But kami, did he want her body. He wanted her to submit to him. This strong woman who could make mountains crumble, he wanted beneath him in all her subdued glory. Kami, he was going to need an ice bath, fuck a cold shower. "This dress is too short.." his voice was husky, "And it dips too low.." He was restraining himself with every bit of strength he had.

"Mhm, all the better to touch me, my dear." She answered back. She was going to be the death of him. A fucking kunai to the heart would be more welcomed than the torture he was putting himself through right now. "Don't ask for something we can't have.."

"You're the only one saying that." Sakura answered softly, her words lost amongst the crowd of bodies, but he had heard them as though she had just spoken through a loud speaker. Heat pumped through his body and his veins. He wanted nothing more than to take her, but he wanted. No, he needed to wait. At least until she was 15. When they weren't drunk off the heat of the dance floor and the alluring pull of alcohol. She deserved more than a late night fuck that smelled of booze and bad decisions. She deserved everything he could give her. She deserved better than this.

"I thought I told you to stop that." She smirked, she knew he was over thinking. She knew she was pitching more than he could catch, more than he was willing himself to. He was the king of self control, of restraint and respect. She knew he probably wanted to rip her clothing off right then and there, but he wouldn't because he respected her and wanted her first time to be more than a random, heat of the moment decision that could be blamed on alcohol, loud music, and dim lights.

Itachi bent down and covered her mouth with his own. He didn't give a shit who was around, he wanted to kiss her and taste whatever he could. He could still taste whatever she had to drink, her mouth was hot and there was a bitter taste left over from whatever she had and a sweet tang from her latest drink. Her lips were a little dry from the heat, but kami did it feel like heaven. Each time they kissed it was like fire engulfed him and a hot, white blindness shot behind his eyelids and he had much to suspect the same happened for her.

Her body was pressed firmly against his own as they kissed, his hands firm on her hips, he was sure he would leave a bruise if he didn't calm down, but he didn't know if he could stop himself right now. His control was slowly slipping. She moaned as the coiling heat pooling in her stomach and lower down. She moaned softly at the feeling of his hands tight on her hips, it made her feel bold knowing he was losing control.

She kissed him deeper, harder, her body pressing against his harder. A soft moan came from his lips as well. Kami, this had to stop before he ripped the damn material off her body and left it for rags on the floor.

A hand found Itachi's shoulder and pulled him away from the rosette. Whoever had the gulls to separate them must've had a death wish because the killing intent from both of them came in waves. Naruto looked sheepish and rubbed the back of his head, "Ah, you guys are going to give everyone in here a heart attack." He laughed. Glancing around, he noticed several people staring at them, some of them with bloody noses. Sakura was too high on what had been happening to really even care. "Maybe you should take her home.." Naruto suggested.

Itachi looked over to the woman beside him and admitted the Uzumaki was right, Sakura looked as though she could fall asleep standing up. Itachi nodded and slipped the girl into his arms before heading out into the darkness of night.

Shisui smirked, "Five bucks, the both of you." Kakashi and Sasuke groaned, forking over said money.

"You know, had Naruto not intervened, I'm pretty sure they would have had sex right there." Sasuke pointed out, earning Kakashi to cough up his drink.

"That's pretty messed up you guys would make that kind of bet." Laughed Obito.

"When those two are the king and queen of self discipline and have so much sexual tension that it gives the rest of us nosebleeds, you'd make the same damn bet in a heart beat." Shisui groaned, Sasuke nodding in agreement beside him. "I just wish they'd fuck already, Itachi has been more high-strung than he usually is. Which says a lot."

Again, this caused Kakashi to choke on his drink, "You know, she is still a former student of mine and is only 13, this is a rather odd conversation to have."

"Says the pervert who just made a bet that Itachi would practically go psycho on Nara." Shot back Rin. Kakashi rolled his eyes and ordered another drink, "Betting he'd beat someone's ass and that he'd get some ass are two totally different things. Again, Sakura is only 13. We all know Itachi has more class than that, as does Sakura."

"Weren't you 13 when you first had sex?" Rin pointed out, earning a blush to creep up the back of Hatake's neck.

"This isn't about me." Kakashi deflected.

"Hypocrite." Rin growled, "That girl is old enough to go on seduction missions. I would rather lose my virginity to someone I love and loves me than to someone I'm being paid to kill or get information from. The village doesn't care about our ages or our bodies, just what advantage we can take of them. I hope she does have sex with him, then maybe she won't regret becoming a shinobi when she opens her legs for the first time to give herself to someone who matters." Rin got up and stormed out, leaving her comrades all in shock.

Ino sighed, "She's right you know. We're only 13.. but the world doesn't care our age." She rubbed her neck, "If we are lucky enough to share such things with someone we actually care for, then does it really matter our age?" With that, Ino pulled Shikamaru with her out of the bar.

Of course everyone knew Minato tried his damnest to leave anyone under the age of 17 out of seduction missions, but sometimes missions called for someone younger - especially when it came to higher ranked missions. Especially when it came to Jounin leveled missions. Especially when it came to ANBU missions, which Sakura had started showing interest in. There were a lot of sick bastards out there that would love to think they were taking advantage of a young, unsuspecting, weak girl.

They also all knew Sakura would do whatever her Hokage asked, even if it meant giving her body. It tore at their hearts knowing it and it made all too much sense why Kakashi tried to hide her from the elders. This was no life anyone could ask for when it came to such young shinobi, but it was the path they chose and they knew what they were signing up for.

With that somber thought, the older Jounin sat about and drank as all the younger shinobi slowly trickled out of the bar and into the cold night.

*.*.*.*.*

The cold air wrapped around them, and Itachi was thankful for it. It gave him time to let the liquor melt away and clear his head. He looked down at the rosette in his arms and smiled. She was looking right at him and softly touched his face. "You don't have to be afraid." She said softly, her emerald eyes searing into his soul. He was so weak for her and it didn't bother him one bit.

"I'm not afraid, I just don't want you to do anything you'd regret. We have just begun a relationship, you're still young.. if you change your mind.. if.."

"Stop living on 'if'. We are shinobi, we don't get that luxury." Sakura poked at his chest, he had to keep himself from wincing at the poke. That was going to leave a bruise, she really did not know her own strength. Or maybe she did and it was intentional. "I want to be with you, when have you known me to do something I didn't want to. Yes, I give in and make compromises, but I don't do it if I didn't want to. I want you, Itachi. I want this. You have got to stop thinking that will change. You are not the monster you're so afraid of being. You are the farthest thing from it, in fact."

She struggled from his hold and he had no choice but to let her down. "Yes, I know this is new. In more ways than one for the both of us. Neither of us have really had a relationship. Neither of us have felt more than platonic feelings for anyone. Neither of us have been intimate in a way that was out of something other than duty. But none of that matters, not if we don't let it.

"We are us. We don't need to follow the rules of dating 101. I may be 13 and you maybe 17. But we are shinobi. We can die any day. What better way to live our lives than to do as much for ourselves that we do for others. It doesn't make us selfish. It makes us human. We tend to forget that once those masks and gear slip on."

How was she so damned smart? So sure? How was she this shinning light that unconsciously gave others the will and strength to shine just as bright. Haruno Sakura was an enigma and he didn't care to figure her out. She was amazing as she was, and he was lucky to have her. "You're right." Itachi murmured, taking her mouth with his. He lifted her and wrapped her legs around his hips and they disappeared from the night and into his bedroom.

They kissed hard and deeply, his hand in her hair and on her hips, digging into her soft flesh. A moan came from her lips and was swallowed by Itachi, her hands in his hair, almost painfully tugging at it. She pulled away and kissed his jaw line, only to lick and suck at his neck, bitting as she moved along. Itachi groaned and bucked his hips to meet Sakura's, causing another sweet moan from the rosette.

His eyes were shut so he didn't see it. Not at first. But slowly, it became obvious. It burned through the darkness behind his eyelids. His eyes snapped open and they widened immediately. She was unaware of her own body. Wisps of pink came from the girl. Her body was humming with energy and it made his hum too. Slowly he pulled her away, a soft whimper of displeasure coming from her lips. "Sakura.." He wasn't sure exactly what to say.

"'Tachi.." she began to whine, but then her eyes open, green replaced with soft pink - the same color as her hair. Around them, the pink swirled, lighting up the room with its soft hue. It slid along his arm, it was warm and calming. Sweet, almost, and he was confused as to why he didn't mind. Sakura looked at him with confusion clear on her face.

A knock on the door proved that they weren't the only one's seeing or feeling this. Another knock, which was interrupted by the door sliding open and a rather awkward pause. Sakura was still being held up by Itachi, her legs around his hips. Her dress was hiked up her thighs and both of them looked rather disheveled. "I'm going to ignore the fact that you two are in the middle of almost have intercourse while there is a house of people.. what I cannot ignore is that chakra. What in the hell is that?" Asked Fugaku.

Sakura blushed deeply as Itachi helped her on to her feet. As she did so, the pink slowly started to recede. "I think it's time to see the Hokage." Itachi murmured, earning a nod from the blushing rosette.

*.*.*.*

"Red, that's what color Sasuke said he saw in the forest. Silver or white was at the exams. Orange was when you brought your father back and now pink when you're uh.." Minato looked away and coughed into his hand, "Please."

"Jesus, when she's horny, Minato. Don't be a pansy." Tsunade sighed deeply. Minato's face turned bright red and he just wanted the world to swallow him whole.

'Welcome to my world.' Sakura thought, her own face a rather deep shade of red.

"Hai. Hai. At any rate, it seems as though your chakra changes with your emotions. It seems to mostly be extreme emotions. Red, in the heat of battle. Silver/white when you were calming down a beast - maybe sympathy or something? Orange when you felt loss, maybe something along those lines. And now pink, for maybe anything related to romantic feelings? Love is a rather strong emotion. Loss and the pain are rather difficult. The feeling of watching those you love be betrayed, the feeling of you yourself being betrayed.. and the feeling to protect those you love.. all very strong feelings." Minato observed.

Mebuki listened intently, Kizashi beside her with Sakura in the middle. Itachi stood beside Shisui and Kakashi. "Seems plausible." Kizashi finally spoke. "I'm not a Haruno by birth right, as I'm sure you were all informed." Kizashi looked at his daughter and wife, "But my father in law, Kami bless his soul, said that the original creator was a warm soul. She was believed to be as angry as she was loving. Maybe this isn't necessarily the way she originally showed this, but Sakura has always been an open book if you knew her..

This just seems..."

The words were blurred to both Sakura and Itachi. Love is a rather strong emotion. The words echoed in their minds, and they couldn't meet each other's eyes. When could that have happened? It wasn't outlandish, it they were honest with themselves. They spent massive amounts of time together even before they became a team. Even before he helped train her for the exams. It could have happened at any time. Yes, lust could sometimes be just as strong as love, they guessed... but nothing like love. Nothing as powerful. Sakura and Itachi remained silent, whatever we being discussed was above their heads.

The question they both shared was... did Itachi love her too? Was it too soon for love? Did it matter if it was... and did Sakura even know she was in love? It was strange, these questions echoed in their minds but before they could go any further, Tsunade's voice pulled them back to then and there.

"So, in other words all we have is a bunch of assumptions and no actual idea as to what was actually happening. We still don't know if there are any draw backs. We still haven't a clue if there are any consequences to bringing someone back from the dead. We have no more answers, just more questions and I refuse to have my pupil turned into some sort of test subject should the counsel find out about this. Their memories are still muddled from the last time this happened during the exams and we have tried like hell to keep them in the dark about what happened in the hospital." Tsunade sounded just as frustrated as everyone else in the room.

Tsunade turned to her surrogate daughter, "I'd hate to say it, my love, but it may be high time you join ANBU. At least you'd be away more than here and it'd be harder for them to track what you're capable of. You'd be a mask in the sea of bodies that even they have no idea who is who. It's your best shot at going unnoticed." Minato looked at the blond woman, a reluctant nod of agreement coming from him.

Kakashi balled his hands into fists at his side, so much so that his knuckles turned white. He knew they were right. He knew it was her best bet at going by unnoticed and it would buy them time to figure things out, but he, no doubt like her father, did not like the thought of having the brightest flame in Konoha being washed into the darkness that was ANBU.

"Absolutely not!" Shot Kizashi. "I will not have my daughter out there when I have risked my very life, and lost it, just to keep she and my wife safe. You do not understand what and who wants her. They know and it is not below them to slaughter every one and everything to get to her." Kizashi was seething. "I will not put her in a position that all but puts her right on a silver platter for them." His eyes shot to his daughter, "I rather die a thousand times to keep you from whatever they want of you. I bit my tongue on you becoming Jounin because it made you happy, but Sakura, please do not make me accept that."

Sakura remained silent, all eyes on her. Slowly, she stood and looked out the window. "The world has always wanted whatever I am. You think I didn't know. I figured out a long time ago why our clan, all parts of it, refused to remain rooted.. but someone was bound to be the reincarnation. I didn't truly think it would be me until what happened to us, the very thing that brought us here. It wasn't just a rogue attack. They were looking for me."

Sakura sighed before walking to her father. She put her hand on his chest and he sat back down and moved it to his shoulder. "You have carried this burden on your shoulders for so long. You killed those in your clan because of the monsters they were and in turn you became the monster you hated. When you found mom, you found the peace you yearned for.." Sakura smiled sadly as things began to click together for Kakashi and Itachi.

The book she was always reading was about her father. "I must have read this story at least a thousand times.. and I know how it ends, but I love it anyway." She smiled sadly. The words came haunting back and they now understood why.

"Let me share that burden, papa. It's my fault the clan was slaughtered.." before either of her parents could detest that thought, she waved her hand,"I'm not the helpless girl I was then. You deserve to enjoy the peace you have fought so hard for. The peace you have searched for your whole life. Father, let me fight for you now."

Tears spilled from both of her parents eyes, "I.. no, we owe this village for all it has done. We owe our Hokage for all he has done. The least I can do.. is fight for them too." Turning to Minato, she got to one knee, her arm across her chest and her head bowed. "I will take the test and join the ANBU ranks should my skills be found sufficient." Sakura said softly.

Minato closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You won't need to take the test. I'm well aware of the fact that you are more than qualified. You will be placed on a temporary team with Hatake and both Uchiha until Nara and Hyuuga have joined the ranks." Sakura nodded, "Of course."

Tsunade remained silent, she hated this idea just as much as everyone else in the room even though she was the one who voiced the obvious.

It dawned on them that she was another Itachi, Shisui and Kakashi. ANBU by the age of 13.


	12. Chapter 12

When he was younger, Kakashi had met him a total of 4 times. He had been in and out of the village a lot back when Kushina had been pregnant and was only in the village for two of his birthdays, he'd met him when he first started walking and once when they were in the Hokage's office and Minato was telling Naruto he had to wait until Kushina got off shift before they could have ramen.

Back then, each time he'd met Naruto, he was in nothing less than ANBU gear, mostly because he was part of the team in charge of protecting the Hokage and his family when he was home. Itachi probably met Naruto the same amount of times as he had at that point. It wasn't that big of a surprise when he found that the blond would be on his team. He knew fully well who he was but made no sign of his knowledge, mostly because he didn't want there to be an air of favoritism in the group.

The first time he had met Sasuke, Itachi had picked the boy up from the park and they dropped him off at the compound. They'd said a few words with Fugaku and met with Madara before heading out once more. He only met Sasuke briefly a few more times before he ended up on team seven.

Apparently, Kakashi met Sakura a few times. Each time, Sakura warmed up to him and loved him dearly. He wasn't sure how that came to be seeing as she didn't know him much, but the knowledge made his heart warm up. He knew, before he knew, that he had met the rosette at some point and finally was relieved when he knew he had not gone crazy.

Itachi and his relationship, for the longest time, revolved solely around being on the same team. Slowly, when they both came out of their shells, they became friends. He understood the pain of being a young Jounin, luckily the Uchiha had a cousin to help with the transition.

It was funny, now that he thought about it, how close team seven became in such a short amount of time. Sakura blossomed greatly, even without the idea of being a reincarnation of some sort of goddess like being. She made them a family.

His eyes closed, the wound to his side gaping open as blood oozed out. He had no regrets in life. He'd lived such a long and fulfilling life. He may not have had a blood family, but he had brothers in arms, and a team of Chunnin (and one Jounin) that was his family. He could die knowing his team - his family, would fight in his name.

Slowly, his body fell into a depth-less darkness. It was somewhere in the in between. The world was muffled around him and his memories flashed through his mind. A smile graced his lips as the last moments of peace came..

Then the blinding light came. It was painful at first and hurt like all mighty hell, then it was warm and welcoming and... familiar? He groaned as he came too, eyes fluttering open to seas of green. "Don't you die on me bastard!" The voice was shaking with anger and anxiety, "Don't you dare! You fucking asshole, don't you dare!" She screamed. Orange filled his vision, replacing the green he knew so well and his body clung to it like a life line.

When he was sure he had enough strength to do so, his hands came to hold hers and another smile came to his pale lips, "I'll survive." He croaked. A shaky smile was his answer as the orange fell away.

"Good... because I'd go to the other side and drag you back if I have to." Sakura stated, her eyes watching him for a long moment before pulling away. Strong arms tossed him onto some one else's back.

"Come on, old man. Don't give up on us. We're almost home."

*.*.*.

"Haruno Sakura!" Growled the slug princess, "What part of going undetected went over your pretty little head!?" She screamed, and at that moment, Minato was glad for the barrier around the office. He was sure Gaara in Suna would be able to hear her. The fury danced behind her eyes dangerously, "We still have no idea what the draw backs are of all of this. You have now brought back two, two people -"

"Actually, I'm sure I wasn't dead.."

"Shut your _fucking mouth_ , Hatake!" Hissed the blonde, "The mission report of all three of your teammates state you should have been called. Yet here you stand, explain to me how you would consider yourself as not having died?"

Before Kakashi could respond, Tsunade cut him off, "Yeah, you fucking _can't_." Her eyes were hard and angry.

"Okay. Okay. Enough, Tsunade." Minato finally said. All four ANBU members stood there silently as they held each other up. Shisui held up Kakashi and Sakura was being held up by Itachi, mostly because she had used so much Chakra to heal Kakashi. "You guys are pretty banged up. Go get checked up, Shizune, Ino, and Hinata are on stand by. They all know the deal about identities and have been sealed. We can talk about this when you guys don't smell like death." The three bowed ( well, cringed) before heading out.

"You know, she's scared too. We, as a village, have taught our young to put their village before themselves. She takes to heart Kakashi's saying about being scum. She loves her people even at the expense of her own life. It's okay to be scared, Tsunade, but yelling at her for doing what we would all do if we could is a bit hypocritical."

Tsunade looked away, she fought back the tears she knew were clawing at her. "I know you love her, and people would have to be blind to not see the respect, admiration, and love she holds for you. Her parents named you her god mother for Kami's sake. We need to believe in her." Minato stood up and stretched, "Go home, Tsunade, you need some time."

She didn't have to be told twice, with a slight bow Tsunade left the office.

*.*.*.  
"You said you wouldn't do that again." Itachi whispered into the tired Kunoichi's neck.

"Well... that changed when I saw my second father figure strolling towards the pearly white gates." Sakura murmured back.

"Strolling?" Itachi mused.

"We both know Kakashi doesn't _hurry_ anywhere." Sakura deadpanned.

Itachi hummed in agreement before pulling her closer to him. They lie in his bed as Sakura did not want her parents to see how she looked just yet. Ino and Hinata almost died when they saw the shape she was in. She didn't want to scare her parents like that. Not when her first ANBU mission almost included her sensei dieing.. and being brought back to life.

Mikoto fussed over the rosette, as they all knew would happen, and invited all four members to dinner. They ate in silence before Naruto and Sasuke came crashing through the door when they caught wind of what had happened from Minato. Madara's eyebrow ticked as he had to pick up his tea before it spilled over because his nephew and second nephew (seeing as Naruto was there just as much as any Uchiha) jumped all over the four ANBU members sitting at the table. He watched the tired rosette smile patiently and answer as many question as she could without giving classified information. He could tell she was tired but she was still patient and smiled endearingly to the two males. He quite liked the girl as his brother and sister in law seemed to. She was strong and was a good match for Itachi, he wondered silently if the patriarch and matriarch of the family had the same feeling.

Fugaku, Mikoto and Obito all looked rather unimpressed by the insistence of chattering the two did with their barrage of questions and accusations. Itachi finally decided enough was enough and helped the rosette to her feet and led her away, shooting his cousin and Kakashi an apologetic look as they did so. Once in the room, Itachi slipped out of his clothing and into a pair of sleeping pants. He went to hand Sakura some clothing, but by the time he had turned around she already had her wrappings, pants, over shirt and vest all on the chair in his room. She had already crawled onto his bed in nothing but her underwear and a tank top.

He felt a blush creeping up the back of his neck, that was the least amount of clothing he'd seen her in even after all this time. Shaking his head, he followed her example and crawled into the bed, pulling her to him. She smiled as she slowly drifting off to sleep.

During the mission, she had gained a few wounds of her own and even then she made sure to heal everyone else first, especially Kakashi. He remembered his heart dropping to his stomach when he saw a sword piercing through the girls shoulder and her hand went through the man's chest. Her chakra began to spiral out an angry red before she felt Kakashi's signature grow dull and almost nonexistent. Then the red turned orange and he knew what was happening. He hated it as he watched beside Shisui as she knitted the man back together and the light of life fill his eyes once more.

The orange didn't seem to take care of her own wounds and he wondered if that was because it was being used to heal someone else or maybe it just didn't heal the user. He stashed the question away for a later time, right now he was enjoying the woman right in front of him. Just a few more months and she would be 14 and while he was already 18, it wasn't as bad - or so he kept telling himself. He already knew her stance on so many things but he just...

Shaking his head, he didn't want to think about that either. He just wanted to hold onto the woman he loved and let everything hold on until tomorrow.

Wait.

Wait.

 _Wait_.

What?

 _What_?!

 _ **Love**_?!

When had that become a thing? When had that been decided on? Then, it dawned on him, love isn't something people can choose, and honestly, if he could, he would still choose Haruno Sakura any day of the week. How he was going to tell her this and when surely went right over his head. Uchiha Itachi was a prodigy at many things. He was an assassin, a fighter, a shinobi, the heir to his clan, a brother, a son, cousin, and a nephew. He was a leader and a friend.

Itachi was rather articulate with words when it was needed, he was many things - but for the life of him he hadn't known an instance in his life where his heart beat faster just when he saw someone. When a smile threatened his lips just at the thought of her, when his stomach fluttered when she looked at him the way she did, when she touched and kissed him. No, Uchiha Itachi was rather mediocre, for the first time in his life, when it came to something. No, to _someone._ But dammit, he was going to try his hardest to show her all the things she gave to him.

Yes, he realized then, he was in love with Haruno Sakura, absolutely smitten.

And he was more than okay with it.

Morning lazily dragged it's fingers through the room, shinning brightly on every single thing it touched. And to think, on such a lovely early morning, Uchiha Itachi felt as though he rather be stabbed in the heart right now than allowing himself to go through the pain he was at the moment.

He was seriously a masochist.

She rocked her hips, her rather scantily clad hips, against his and kissed him deeply his hands on her sides grasping at the warmth she radiated. He thanked Kami that he had put a seal down after the first indecent to keep others from feeling everything that happened in that room, because at this moment, bright pink touched what the early morning sunlight wouldn't. His fingers skimmed just beneath the thin fabric of her tank top, and fucking dammit he wanted her so much. His need was obvious at this point as his length pushed against her through his sleep pants which was trying like all mighty hell to keep him restrained.

Soft panting and moans filled the room as they rocked their hips together, their clothing slowly starting to get on both of their nerves. Finally, Sakura had enough and pulled off her tank top and sat on top of him in all her naked glory, save for her panties. Her hair fell over her shoulders and the pink spilling from her illuminated her face and her eyes were the color of her hair. She looked so ethereal, like a goddess and she was everything he could ever need and want.

Her breasts were still in development, and as so, they were modestly sized at the moment. A decent b cup, borderline c. Didn't matter, he wasn't really complaining. Her eyes roamed over him, hunger evident in them as she started to rock her hips slowly once more.

Hr knew he should be ashamed of himself for losing so much control. He knew he would probably be viewed as a pedophile under most circles and circumstances. He knew he should stop. _He really did_. But was he going to? _**Hell fucking no**_. The primal part of his mind had taken over and before she knew it, she was beneath his body, warmth engulfing her. They kissed harshly once more as he began playing with her breast.

And then.  
 _ **And fucking then**_.  
There was a knock at the door.  
Itachi barely registered the sound as he was so lost in the Holy music that was Sakura's passionate moans.

Another knock filled the air and Itachi growled deep in his chest, his crimson eyes blazing brightly above her, the sight of them causing the rosette to gasp at their beauty, her hand on his face tracing his lips. Pink met red and he was lost all over again.

Then another knock came and Itachi was about to lose his shit. He got from the bed as Sakura pulled her shirt back over her head and Itachi pulled on a shirt long enough to hide his rather raging boner. Flinging his door open with killing intent at an all time high, poor Shisui stood frozen, his mask facing the back of his head. It took him 15 seconds to realize what had been going on and he silently cursed himself for several reasons.

A. Itachi was going to kill him.  
B. Sakura was going to kill him.  
C. He was going to want to kill himself because if the sexual tension was high before, it's going to be insufferable now that they were possibly seconds away from blowing off the steam finally.  
Not to mention, Itachi was probably going to be 100 times more high strung than usual and that meant an ass beating come mission or training.  
D. Itachi and Sakura were going to kill him.

Kami, he hoped his death would be clean and quick, but chances are since the two were sadists, he knew better than that.

 _Fuck._

If it were possible, Itachi's ire grew wilder, but what caught Shisui's attention more was the pink coming from behind him, that seemed to be coming close by. The rosette put her hand on Itachi's shoulder, the pink chakra wrapping around him as those once emerald eyes, now pink, turned towards him. As Itachi began to calm down, Sakura's eyes turned green once more and the pink chakra receded.

"I'm sure you came for a reason." Sakura said finally, her voice soft as always.

"Ah, yes." His eyes flashed over to Itachi who finally disabled his Sharingan. "The Hokage wanted to check in with us.." He coughed out awkwardly. He held a blush on his own because he had knew what that pink chakra meant.

"Alright. Do we have enough time for a shower and to change clothing?"

"Yes. I uh.. I'm going to go change any way, he said it wasn't a big to do.. just an informal meeting.. so uh.. just don't make him wait like Kakashi likes to.." With that, Shisui nodded and flickered away. Sakura smiled up at her boyfriend, kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry my love, my body is aching for yours just as yours is aching for mine.. that just means when we have each other, it'll be breath taking." She bit his earlobe before heading towards the bathroom with a towel and change of clothing in her arms.

Itachi punched the wall and left a rather large hole but he didn't care. God was he going to kill Shisui, but he knew Sakura was right. Issue was, he wasn't sure how he would keep his primal side in check next time, he almost lost control. Sighing deeply, Itachi pushed his fingers through his hair, that pink haired vixen was going to be the death of him. He was hoping to high Kami he could at least hold it together until her birthday, just a couple of months away.

Yes, he was definitely a masochist.

*.*.*.*

As Shisui predicted, the sexual tension between the two shinobi was off the wall, everyone in the Hokage's office could feel it and it was truly almost unbearable. Minato tried his best to hide the pink dusting on his cheeks that was a tall tale of his own arousal, Kushina was definitely going to be victim to this tension as much as he was. Kakashi continuously shifted his weight on his feet, trying to keep himself from screaming in frustration and Shisui was trying not to cry. Tsunade was far too drunk to notice much.

The Uchiha and Haruno sat there with blank looks on their faces and the eldest Uchiha was getting death glares from Minato and Kakashi. Finally, he had enough, "You're the one that told me to get them, it's not my fault you have impeccable timing!" Shisui blurted towards Minato who's blush was in full bloom now.

"Fucking pansies. Get on with it, Minato." Tsunade murmured.

"Hai. Hai." Clearing his throat, he apologized to the two about the timing of his request. Uchiha remained silent, mainly because he would punch his cousin in the face if he said one more word.

"No worries. What was it that you needed, Hokage-sama?" Sakura answered easily.

"Yes. I wanted to just touch base. The whole thing on your latest mission has to be talked about. I'm not going to lecture anyone about the events, because I'd be a hypocrite to do so. I know for damn sure I would do the same if I were there and had I the ability to do so. At any rate, I need to know if anyone noticed anything while Sakura-chan was helping Kakashi-san. Or at any point during the mission for that matter."

It was silent for a few moments before Itachi finally spoke up. "Sakura had several of her own wounds. Broken ribs, a sword through her shoulder, a broken collar bone. Several other things."

"I'm sorry you went through that." Minato frowned, Tsunade also frowned at this.

"That wasn't the point of me pointing it out. She healed Kakashi." Itachi stated.

"We are very aware of this." Kakashi pointed out bluntly.

"But it didn't heal _me_.." Sakura murmured, she understood where Itachi was going. Everyone went silent as they took in the information.

Tsunade cocked her head to the side, "That really does not help us."

"But it does. It gives us something to look into. Do you think maybe it just doesn't work for you? Or maybe because none of your wounds were fatal? Maybe because of your healing capabilities as it were?" Minato tossed out ideas.

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Only one way to find out."

Before anyone could ask what she meant, Sakura took a kunai and slit her throat. Everyone's eyes went wide and stared in shock before Tsunade jumped to her pupil and healed the mess before Sakura died. "You stupid fucking idiot! Stop being so reckless!" Tsunade growled, popping the girl on the back of the head. Sakura shrugged, "Well, that answered one question."

Everyone narrowed their eyes at the rosette who sat there as if nothing just happened. "Maybe we should refrain from testing theories in such a dangerous manner?" Minato finally spoke.

Sakura sighed, "With all due respect, how are we going to do that? Am I supposed to wait until I'm in a life or death situation and hope things go in my favor? I doubt we are going to get answers by playing it safe, Hokage-sama. I rather find out now than on the field. I rather do it here when there are people around that can help me than in the field while I choke on my own blood alone."

No one wanted to agree, but they knew she was right. There was no safe way to figure this out. There was no safe way to get their answers. What was worse, they didn't know what damage she could do. They realized that pink and orange were calming and healing, silver or white, whatever the color, followed suit, but they didn't know much about it seeing as it's only happened once. Red, on the other hand, was rage and came to life when she was in fight mode. Everyone also took note of that on this previous mission.

Itachi sat stewing in his frustration and slight ire at what Sakura had just done and the point she had made. Yes, he realized she was right, didn't mean he had to like it. Especially when it involved slitting her own throat. He was going to have a rather long conversation with her about her tact.

The rest of the meeting was filled with more observation and brainstorming until everyone was just more frustrated and still had no answers. "Just make sure whatever tests you decide to do, you have someone near by." Minato sighed deeply before dismissing everyone from his office.

Sakura hugged Kakashi hard outside the tower, "I know you're still probably upset with me about all of it.. but I couldn't let you die." She whispered. He smiled to himself and hugged the girl back, "I love you too, Sakura-chan." He said with ease.

When they finished their conversation, the two Uchiha and Haruno walked towards Sakura's home, she hadn't been by yet since coming back from their mission. The walk was silent and Sakura knew Itachi, possibly Shisui as well, was upset about her stunt back in the office. The air was filled with tension and Sakura didn't want to talk about it right out in the open. When they arrived at her home, Shisui hugged the rosette then walked away to give the two some time.

"I'm sorry.." Sakura said softly. Itachi stared at her blankly and it hurt. She knew he was upset, but she couldn't see just how upset. Itachi's heart was beating wildly. He was so damn angry at her, the fact that she almost killed herself right in front of him. The fact that he loved her so much it hurt. The fact that he would take a sword to the heart if it meant protecting her. Everything, it was too much at this moment and he didn't want to say something stupid. So, instead, he dipped his head and walked away. He left a wide eyed Sakura standing there, tears swelling in those emerald pools as he walked away. Kami, did his heart hurt when he heart a sniffle from her. Shisui stared at him then back at the rosette who walked to her door then back to his cousin. When they were far enough, Shisui lost his shit. "What the _fuck_ was _that_? You might as well should have just slit her throat for her!"

He had over stepped and he knew his mistake when the words came out his mouth. Itachi pushed him against a wall, his eyes angry red, "She could have fucking _died_!" Itachi hissed, "I cannot and will not take this lightly and you should not either."

Shisui stared down at his cousin with his own blazing eyes, "I don't but we both damn well know she was right. How are we supposed to know what the hell is going on? There is no safe way to figure it out and you treating her like shit sure doesn't fucking help." Shisui disappeared and reappeared behind his younger cousin, "I know you are socially inept, so I'm going to spell this out for you. That girl, the one you just left standing cold, is in fucking love with you, you _dumb ass_. She has never said no to you for anything and she has saved your ass several times on several missions. She is willing to risk her life for all of us. She fucking slit her own throat just to answer a fucking question!

"Don't you think she's afraid? That she's scared to fucking death!? She has no idea what the fuck she is and here you are throwing a fucking hissy fit like a child because you don't like how she answered a fucking question. News flash, Itachi, this has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with any of us and if you can't get your head out of your ass long enough to realize that, maybe you _should_ fucking walk away. You don't have to like how she gets her answers, that's not your job. As her partner, all you have to do is be there by her side at the end of the day. She may be okay with you giving her the cold shoulder, but I'm fucking not." When Shisui was done, he gave his cousin one final nasty glare before flickering away.

Itachi stood there and for the first time, he felt ashamed of his actions. He hadn't a clue as to what he should do next. He figured he'd let Sakura speak with her parents before he went to apologize, she had not seen them yet. He would apologize... as soon as he could come to terms with the fact that he needed to tell her he loved her.

Sakura bit her lip as a sob stifled through. She tried not to cry as the pain in her chest exploded. It hurt to watch Itachi just walk away like that as if she were nothing. When had she become this girl? The one that allowed her emotions to take over? She growled at herself and steeled her backbone. She refused to be that girl. She never was and refused to be now. Turning on her heel, she entered her home and enjoyed the embrace of her family.

*.*.*.*

Training for the next week or so was tense in every aspect of the word. Sakura barely even looked Itachi's way unless he talked to her directly, and even then she called him "Taichou" or added the suffix 'sama', none of this went missed by the other two teammates and Itachi was trying like hell to keep his composure. He couldn't blame her, he'd been an asshole and hadn't seen her to try and fix things, she had every reason to be in such a mood towards him. Sakura, on the other hand, ignored her beating and aching heart. She didn't want to try and decipher whatever the hell Itachi had done the day before and why he had continued to ignore her the following week after, she was too busy being upset with herself to care about that right now. She was upset that she let things get to her so easily. Yes, she may have been in love with the Uchiha, which right now she was not even in the mood to ponder on, but she swore to herself that she would become stronger, not some sniffling little brat who's feelings were hurt because the boy she wanted was being an asshole. She was Haruno Sakura, the great Senju Tsunade's apprentice who'd bypassed her teacher, became a Jounin at 12 and ANBU at 13. She was a prodigy and the reincarnation of a strong, powerful goddess. She refused to allow such emotions to get in the way of her strength.

She knew Itachi was upset with her, and her logical mind was not upset – but instead of communication with her, he decided she was not worth a word and walked away from her then continued to ignore her for a whole week afterwords! That blank look as if he didn't give two shits about her apology. She felt like she was nothing more than trash when he looked at her that way and it made her fucking angry. She was _not_ nothing. She was _not_ some little girl playing kunoichi. She was not going to let such pathetic things get in her way. She may love the Uchiha, but she was not okay with the way he treated her. She deserved more than a cold shoulder. Maybe she was over reacting. Maybe she was blowing things out of proportion. She didn't know and didn't care. She refused to let this sort of shit become a trend of sorts. Her father, never in his life, treated her mother in any way shape or form near what Itachi did, as small as it was, but she would be damned if she allow _anyone_ to dismiss her so rudely.

Finally when training was over on a day a week and a half after the incident outside Sakura's apartment, Sakura disappeared into a swirl of cherry blossoms, leaving Kakashi and Shisui to glare at a rather stoic Itachi. "Fix it. Fucking fix it before I kick your ass." Shisui hissed, earning a nod of agreement from Hatake. Itachi gave them both a blank look before disappearing. Of course he was going to fix things, or at least try. He just, he didn't want to lose her.

That night, there was a light tapping on her window and Sakura stared at it for a long time, debating on whether or not she should let him in. Finally, after she realized he was not going to go away, she opened the window and allowed the Uchiha heir in. The look in his eyes were smoldering and made it a bit hard to keep her resolve, but she refused to allow her to be deterred. "Taichou." She greeted, her face blank. It was driving him crazy. He wanted her to be mad at him, yell, hit, _something_ , but she just stood there. "I..." Before Sakura could even say whatever she was going to say, he kissed her deeply, his hand on the side of her face and his other in her hair. Sakura melted for a moment before the anger came back at his nerve.. How _dare_ he!? Sakura pulled back smacked the heir right across the face. "Get out! You do _not_ get to be a dick to me then just do this! No, fuck you! I deserve more than just to be ignored! I understand if you were upset, but the least I get is you telling me! Not just doing _that_ then coming here as if I'm just going to let you in my home, in my arms, in my _bed_ because maybe you feel a little bad or whatever. I don't deserve this bullshit, you can take that and shove it up your ass." She hissed, her green eyes flashing red.

When she turned towards her room, her back to him, he felt his heart ache in ways he never knew. "I'm sorry." The words were a whisper to the wind.. "I...You're right. You deserve better than what I've done. You deserve better than what I've been doing. I just didn't know how to.."

"How to _what?_ Talk to me? Tell me how upset you were? I'm not some porcelain doll, you can tell me when you're upset with me. That is what a relationship is about, it's two people communicating, not ignoring someone just for the fuck of it." Sakura said, her voice as tired as her eyes, and for the first time he saw what he'd done.

"When I saw that blade go through your shoulder, it was like the world ended for a moment. It was like time froze and the world stopped and all I could think was _are you still alive?_ And suddenly I couldn't think, all I did was act. I didn't care how reckless I became as long as it meant getting to you. When I saw you slit your own throat, it was that moment all over again. It was as though time stopped. My heart hurt so damn much. I could barely breath and think, I wanted to scream before Tsunade took over." The look in his eyes was shattered and it twisted Sakura's heart. "I fucking love you, Haruno Sakura. I know we've just been together for a little while, but all this time, this past year alone has brought me so close to you and I cannot help but know that my heart wants you more than I can even comprehend. I would take a blade to the heart if it meant you living. I would die a thousand deaths before I ever allow you to taste the brink. I will walk away before I ever hurt you again. I just didn't know how to say any of that until now... and I'm so fucking sorry."

By this time, Itachi was on his knees, his arms wrapped around Sakura's midsection, tears spilling from both their eyes. "I love you and I didn't know it until I saw you almost die, and I'm such a fucking fool."

"Yes, you are." Itachi looked up into those green pools, now shining pink. "But I guess I am too, because I love you too, you stupid Uchiha." Itachi felt as though his very soul was on fire and shot up from his spot as Sakura launched into his arms, kissing him deeply and hard. As they pulled away, Sakura narrowed her eyes, "But I swear to Kami, Uchiha Itachi, you ever pull that bullshit again, I will fuck you up. I will kick your ass so bad your crows won't be able to identify you." Her words were so sickly sweet, Itachi had to keep himself from gulping, something told him it was not an idle threat. 


	13. Chapter 13

_Are you insane like me?_

 _Been in pain like me?_

 _Bought a hundred dollar bottle of champagne like me?_

 _Just to pour that motherfucker down the drain like me?_

 _Would you use your water bill to dry the stain like me?_

Things turned out to be a real cluster fuck real fast.

A roar came and shinobi were dispatched.

How had he lost control so fast?

Where was he?

Lost amongst the voice that told him he needed to tear down everything in it's path.

But his heart was broken, this wasn't supposed to be this way.

He only wanted to know what he was.

The creature that was inside him.

So he meditate like Sakura-chan had shown him and..

He found his answers.

 _Are you high enough without the Mary Jane like me?_

 _Do you tear yourself apart to entertain like me?_

 _Do the people whisper 'bout you on the train like me?_

 _Saying that you shouldn't waste your pretty face like me?_

"Hinata, you should be looking for a husband." Hiashi stated simply, his pearly lilac eyes reading over a scroll, not bothering to look up at his daughter. Hanabi who sat beside her sister, and Neji who sat on her other side, both eyed the elder. Hinata was silent for a long time before she pushed her plate away. "I am a kunoichi. I grow stronger every day. There will be a day I will be head of the clan, but today I will fight beside my brothers in arm."

Neji and Hanabi were shocked at the girl's words, but Hiashi would have none of it. "I suggest you figure out who it is, as they will need approval. You're not getting any younger."

It was the distant howl of the kyuubi that caught all of their attention, and soon the three Hyuuga were on their feet. "As I've stated, I am a kunoichi first." With that, all three shinobi disappeared, all missing the small smirk on the elder Hyuuga's mouth.

 _And all the people say_

 _You can't wake up, this is not a dream_

 _You're part of a machine, you are not a human being_

 _With your face all made up, living on a screen_

 _Low on self esteem, so you run on gasoline_

Sasuke, Shisui, and Itachi kept trying to get close to they kyuubi, but their efforts were in vein. Minato was successful in helping them get him away from the village but he had to get back to his wife, he needed to make sure both parts of the kyuubi did not get unleashed. A growl ripped from Sasuke, he hated seeing the dobe like this. Naruto was many things, but at the end of the day he was family.

And Sakura would be devastated if anything happened to any of them

He wouldn't let that happen.

 _I think there's a flaw in my code_

 _These voices won't leave me alone_

 _Well my heart is gold and my hands are cold_

 _Are you deranged like me?_

 _Are you strange like me?_

 _Lighting matches just to swallow up the flame like me?_

 _Do you call yourself a fucking hurricane like me?_

 _Pointing fingers cause you'll never take the blame like me?_

Suddenly, the world seemed to stop.

It was as if chakra was snowing down upon them.

The feeling of calming, of warmth, of hope and love filled in amongst them.

 _Shit_.

She was supposed to be out on a mission.

She was never supposed to see him like this.

Why was she here?

When had she gotten back?

Why did she always have to fight for them?

Why, just once, could they not fight for her?

 _And all the people say_

 _You can't wake up, this is not a dream_

 _You're part of a machine, you are not a human being_

 _With your face all made up, living on a screen_

 _Low on self esteem, so you run on gasoline_

Slowly, she walked past the three Hyuuga who stood behind the three Uchiha. Nara and Yamanaka on the sidelines and her ex sensei. She walked past the chaos and past the waves of deadly chakra coming from the orange beast that growled at her.

Slowly, the growl faded and began to whimper as the silver chakra began to wrap around him.

"Shhh.." She whispered, and the beast fell on its knees, its body becoming smaller until his head was in her hands, "You're not alone. You have Naruto. Be his friend. I know you hate being trapped, but Naruto is a good person. Let him in." She whispered. Between them, words were exchanged and tears spilled from the cerulean eyes that met her own. "Welcome back." The rosette smiled.

"I tried to mediate like you showed me. I don't think I did it right." His voice was tired.

"I think you did just fine." Slowly, silver eyes bled to emerald and the chakra began to fade, leaving Haruno and Uzumaki amongst the wreck his beast made.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Hmmm?" Sakura hummed softly, her hands playing with his hair.

"Thank you."

"We're family, Naruto, it's what we do." She returned a tired smile of her own as the two slowly fell asleep.

 _I think there's a flaw in my code_

 _These voices won't leave me alone_

 _Well my heart is gold and my hands are cold_

 _*.*.*.*_

She cuddled against whatever source of heat was radiating against her. In the recesses of her mind, she knew exactly who was beside her, but her mind was numb and her body hurt too much to want to think. She just wanted sleep. She just wanted the darkness.

"I think we're starting to see the draw backs.." Itachi murmured, he sat in the Hokage's office with those who were well aware of this situation. "The more she uses these... abilities, the stronger they get. The stronger they get, the more it consumes her. She was unconscious for two weeks this last time after comforting the kyuubi and returning Naruto-san to normal." His voice was monotone, but they could all tell Itachi was trying his damnedest to not go psychotic. He had been beside the rosette's side every single day for two weeks straight. At first, her vitals were almost nonexistent. She had passed out before after these episodes, but never like this. It had never lasted more than a few days and it never took this much of a toll on her body.

Then, at some point during the night, they had to put her on a breathing machine and several other things happened because her organs began to shut down. On the first day of her second week, things got better over night, or so it seemed. She was breathing on her own, all her organs were functioning, but she had yet to wake up yet. It hurt like all mighty hell watching this. They had been dating for a few months now, they'd been through several dates and through numerous missions together. Her birthday had come and passed and here she was, stuck in a fucking hospital bed because she helped someone she loved. Why did it feel as though everyone she loved did nothing but hurt her? He knew, logically, that anyone of them would do the same for her, that she loved them all so much that she would fight for them with every breath in her body.

But he didn't want to see that last breath.

Not if it meant being in the darkness again.

Not if it meant not having her.

Kizashi held his wife's hand, both of them somber. They knew that at any point, they could lose their daughter. Kakashi, Kizashi, and Naruto all now knew what survivor's guilt truly was. How could they be here, alive and well, while the very person that kept them alive and safe lie in a hospital bed?

Tsunade was just as worried, the only weight not on their shoulders was the fact that the elders had not gotten wind of the situation. Anyone who was unfamiliar with the situation had their memories disoriented, so if anyone wanted to say anything, they had no idea what to say. The only thing they remember was the kyuubi and nothing after.

Another bullet dodged.

Barely.

 _*.*.*.*_

"Happy birthday!"

" _Happy birthday!"_

"You're finally up, Forehead!"

" _You're finally up, sleepy head!"_

"Come on, we're going to get some food, get changed and celebrate! Everyone is giving us girl time!" Ino wouldn't say it, but she was so close to tears in her relief, she had to keep up her watery smile.

" _Come on! We're going to have your favorite food for breakfast, get dressed and celebrate! Okaa-san and Oto-san are giving us_ _Magomusume and Sofu time!" Haruno Nikko smiled his watery smile as he watched his young granddaughter rise from her bed, disheveled and groggy with sleep._

"Everyone will meet us later on at the club, Itachi will steal you all day tomorrow, so we figured we'd take you all today." Ino smiled as she watched her friend slowly start to dress. She had been out of the hospital for about three days and, for the most part, was feeling ten times better than when she went in.

" _The rest of the clan is jealous that it's just us tonight, but they'll get to have you tomorrow, so eh to their jealousy!" Laughed Nikko._

They walked towards the cafe in the middle of the village that Sakura just adored because of their dango. The two ate and laughed, it'd been too long since Sakura had time alone with her best friend. She almost forgot what it felt like.

 _When Sakura finally joined her grandfather in their kitchen, he smiled broadly and she returned his smile just as brightly. The two ate and laughed, it had been too long since Sakura had time alone with her grandfather. She was afraid to forget his smile, his laughter, his counsel when she was upset. He was her everything, her sunshine._

Ino shook her head as Sakura tried on this monstrosity of a dress. It was a terrible turquoise that did absolutely nothing for Sakura's figure, hair color, nor skin tone. Sakura tried to settle her laughter as she changed into something else. She and Ino stood there before the mirror, smiling and they silently agreed on the dress. The girl's eyes connected in the mirror, and a tear escaped both of their eyes. It was nice to be back.

 _After breakfast, Sakura tried on several dresses her parents had gotten her, but the only one she wanted was the one her grandfather had gotten for her. She slipped it on and ran down to her grandfather. When she reached the stairs, her movements halted in the middle of the stair case. "Sakura, go pack some clothing and meet me down here in five minutes!" Nikko called, panic in his voice. Sakura knew better than to ask why.. Doing as told, she ran back to her room and packed up the most sensible clothing she could find, a few kunai and threw off the dress. Putting on her black shorts and deep green tunic, she ran back downstairs to meet her grandfather._

 _There was yelling and screaming from the distance and Sakura did not need anything explained to her. They ran towards the end of the village, screams and yelling coming from everywhere now. He could hear the monsters coming and Nikko pushed Sakura forwards, just as a man came launching towards Sakura. Nikko began fighting, yelling for Sakura to run. She watched as her grandfather became wounded, she knew she was too weak and useless to be able to do anything. She watched her grandfather died._

 _Her voice was being yelled, Mebuki yanked her daughter behind her and Kizashi hurried them towards the wood and towards where the Konoha shinobi were spilling from. A shock of silver hair caught their attention and the familiar man took them without hesitation, passing them over to the three Uchiha (Obito, Itachi, and Shisui) to take them back to the village. As they carried Sakura, a single tear spilled from her eyes, and she promised she'd never be that weak again._

" _Happy birthday, my mutsukushī hana."_

 _*.*.*.*_

The girls got together at Itachi's apartment (which is where Sakura now spent about 85 % of her time in) as Itachi joined the men at Shisui's home. "You would think we're getting ready for a bachelorette's party instead of Sakura's birthday." Laughed Ten-Ten as she stood beside Ino, both their hair up in curlers as they applied their makeup. Sakura sat as Hinata smoothed out her own pink curls before getting dressed. Sakura blushed lightly as Ino responded, "Well, at this rate, I'm surprised he _hasn't_ proposed yet. I'm sure if you were at least 16, he probably would have." Shaking her head, Sakura got from her seat when Hinata tapped her shoulder letting her know she can get up, her other hand covering her mouth as she giggled.

After about an hour, all girls were dressed to go. Ino wore a dark, midnight blue dress that hugged her body. It was a halter at the top and had a long split up the leg. Black, strappy sandals slivered around her leg up to her mid calf. Hinata wore a black dress that hugged her body, but she had a dark purple cardigan and dark purple sandals, the same as Ino. Ten-Ten wore dark red dress which was a two piece, only her midriff showing and the same sandals as Hinata and Ino. Sakura wore a dark hunter green dress that hugged her breast, cinch at the waist, and loosened at the bottom, fluttering around her lower-thigh. She wore a pair of black flats instead of the sandals. All of their makeup was subtle, natural looking and slightly smoky. Sakura's short hair had been trimmed and now framed her face in thick curls, Hinata's hair was in waves around her shoulders, Ino and Ten-Ten had their hair pinned up in an elegant bun, small pieces of hair ringing down. When they arrived, Shisui, Obito, and Kakashi were drunk off their asses singing karaoke. Itachi sat beside Sasuke, Naruto, Nara, and Hyuuga. Choji, Shino, and Kiba were all busy eating at the bar.

All the older Jounin, Tsunade with Shizune, Mebuki, Mikoto, Fugaku, Madara, Hiashi, Kushina, and surprisingly enough, Minato (possibly just for an hour or so) sat in the corner of the bar all drinking and laughing together.

The atmosphere suddenly thickened with anticipation and obvious sexual tension. Everyone almost groaned at the intensity of it. Kiba stared at Ino as if she put the stars in the sky, Naruto almost drooled all over Hinata, Lee bounced up and down about Ten-Ten's beautiful youth, And Uchiha Itachi stared at Sakura as if the world had fallen away and she was all that remained.

This time, when the cake came out, when the singing stopped, when she blew the candles out, and when the cheering started, Sakura could feel her heart swelling – she had everything she could ever ask for. All of her family was there..

But there was a hole in her chest that nothing could fill.

A curse given to her when she was young, the last day she saw him.

It dug at the sadness deep down.

" _Happy birthday, my u_ _tsukushī hana."_

 _*.*.*.*.*_

He should be doing paperwork.

He should be training.

He should be doing clan duties.

He had a whole list of things he should have been doing.

However, at this particular moment in time, he did not give one single fuck about any of it.

Not when he was in his warm bed.

Not when he was in his warm bed with his girlfriend.

Not when he was in his warm bed with his girlfriend who was currently grinding her body sinfully deliciously against his own.

No, _fuck everything else._

Sakura moaned as Itachi sucked at her hardened nipple and played with her other one, her hips grinding against his, feeling his stone, hard arousal against her thinly clothed panties. He bit softly before he brought her down and kissed her deeply, his hands moving to her hips as they slowly slid down her underwear.

Skin against skin, the world melting down around them as he waited for the pain to subside he kissed her neck gingerly and went in deeper once he was given the all clear. His head was fuzzy and there was a tight coil pulling, pulling, pulling.

She was on the cusp of the fountain that invited divinity.

And then it came and it was a combustion of lights and sudden whiteness that filled up the darkness behind their eyelids.

No, everything else could wait.

*.*.*.*

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, she had been out of sorts since her birthday party two weeks ago. He had remained silent, figuring she would seek him out when she was ready, but all that had been happening whenever he tried bringing it up, they would have heavy, hot sex that left him mentally numbed to even remember what it was he wanted to talk about it. Finally, after being worried sick, he decided enough was enough.

"Mhm, just tired."

"Sakura." His voice was filled with warning and Sakura whined, she hated that he knew something was bothering her, she just didn't know how to tell anyone.

"My birthday." Sakura murmured.

"What do you mean, my love?" Itachi whispered against her ear.

"I never... really cared for it." She answered.

"But your father is here now."

"Mhm... He is, but.. my grandfather was not."

Itachi pulled away and looked down at the pink haired woman in his arms. Looking him in the eyes, he already understood what she wanted. Coal gave way to crimson and Itachi saw everything she wanted to say. Sadness flickered over his face and he was at a loss of words.

This was why she pushed people away.

Why she trained so hard.

Why she cared for everyone so deeply.

Why she didn't like her birthday

Why she was willing to sacrifice herself for everyone else.

She never wanted to be weak enough to watch her loved ones be slaughtered, to have to sit on the sidelines and watch life leave their bodies.

Itachi kissed her softly.

He understood.

*.*.*.*

"I've met someone." Sakura whispered to the air, "I think you'd like him. I have many friends and okaa-san and Oto-san are doing very well. I think you'd be happy here. I miss you so much, sofu." Her head hanged low, "I am so sorry. I will not cry anymore. I will be strong enough. For you. For everyone. I'll give all of me, if that's what it takes to safe even one person. Like you did for me, sofu." Looking up from the small tomb stone that Minato had been so kind to give her grandfather, Sakura smiled softly as she squinted up at the sunshine knowing her sofu was smiling down on her.

On that day, she sat with her family and friends at a picnic underneath the bright sunshine in the blossoming spring field.

" _I love you, sofu."_

 _*.*.*.*_

 _ **Author's note: Yaasssss let this rip your heart open as it did mine as I wrote it... Yyyaaassss.**_

 _ **On a bright note, I needed to give some back drop, good and bad stuff going on. Maybe an answer? But what are the solutions? The world may or may not ever know..**_

 _ **Anyway, much love! Enjoy!**_

 _ **P.S The lyrics are to Gasoline by Halsey.**_


	14. Chapter 14

He watched her. She was the purest thing he had ever seen. He watched as she puled her feet from beneath her an lunged them into the crystal clear water beneath the rock on which she sat. Her emerald eyes stared into the distance, oddly pink hair pulled into a rather short tail atop her head. She smiled, her eyes finding him in the clearing. They made eye contact and his breath caught in his throat.

Innocent.

Pure.

He knew he was both an neither at the same time. He knew she was ethereal, a goddess amongst men and he, a god amongst peasants. She was powerful, that much he could tell, even from afar. Slowly, he made his way to her, and she watched him with unveiled interest and curiosity. Most would run the opposite way at the sight of him, yet she sat there, almost inviting. He felt as though he should retreat, leave this ethereal being alone; however, he was drawn in, like a moth to a flame, he did not care if his wings got burned, he just wanted to feel her light. It'd been a long time since he last knew anything but the darkness that cloaked him.

"Hello!" The pink haired goddess welcomed. An incline of his head proved he had heard her, his greeting in return to her own. She moved over a bit, allowing him space to sit beside her. At first he was skeptic, but something told him to take her offer. They sat in silence and he left with out a word until the sun settled beyond the trees.

They met several times after, his orange hair always a shock amongst the green of the field. They sat in silence each time, eating together occasionally here and there. Neither really talked, but the silence spoke volumes – they bonded through this silence. One day, Sakura smiled softly, "I'm sorry." She'd whispered, her words whisked away by the breeze. He didn't need to answer, "You remind me of a good friend of mine. He'd known nothing but heart ache and pain, I hope you find peace." While on the outside he remained stoic, his poker face in perfect place, he felt his heartbeat pick up and a flutter in his stomach.

Neither of them spoke, and eventually, he watched her head back home, wave of her hand signaling her departure amongst the green horizon. He sat there for a long time before getting up and disappearing himself.

She didn't know why she kept meeting him just as he was unsure as to why he kept meeting with her. She could feel his power just as he felt her. Neither of them asked questions, but they knew; broken pieces always found each other. "Pein." He murmured one day, there had been no more words exchanged that day.

"Sakura." A few days later came a response. At some point, the pink haired woman became something he'd began looking forward to. Without fail, she had been where he'd first found her. Then one day, she disappeared. He waited for hours for her, day after day, yet she never showed. And suddenly, the pain was unbearable. He wanted to go find her, ask her why she stopped, but then he felt it. The power that ripped through the skies and spilled down around them.. And he knew.

He knew.

Then he saw her there, her body slumped over with a blonde patch of hair resting in her lap. There was a feeling deep inside him that he had never felt before, especially when he saw a raven haired male pick up the pink haired woman's body. He watched as all those who seemed concerned about the pinkette and blonde haired male, disappear. "Jiraiya. Madara." His voice was calm as he spoke, void of emotion despite his inner alarms going on.

"You came." Stated the Sannin. Pein did not answer, his purple eyes staring at the two men before a question came from him instead, "What was that?"

The sannin and Uchiha traded a look, "We both know you can answer that question on your own."

"I can see why Orochimaru is after her." Pein stated, bemused.

Madara smirked, "Have you heard much about him?"

"No, last I heard, he was chased away by a genin, seems like he went in over his head." The three remained silent for a long moment before Pein spoke once more, "It is ironic." His words were soft, "So pure.. innocent, yet she can take life as fast as she can give it. Her power is..." Purple eyes found the sannin's, words were not needed.

"Do you think you can help her?" Asked Madara.

"I can try my best. Your nephews will not intervene? I can see they are close."

Madara sighed deeply, "Yes, they're close, but if they know this will help her, they will take a step back." Pein remained silent, the only indication that Uchiha's words had been heard was a slight incline of the head.

"When she is ready, we will bring her to you."

"No." Pein answered, "She will find me on her own. She is more than capable."

The sannin and Uchiha stared at Pein, waiting for some sort of elaboration, and when it became abundantly clear they would not receive any, they gave a pointed look to one another before disappearing.

Days turned to weeks and Pein began to lose his patience – she should have been in the clear by now. The Uchiha gave him updates as he heard them from his nephews and Jiraiya received information from Tsunade. Pein sighed heavily as he sat on the rock he had first seen the rose haired female.

"The water is warmer than normal." Came a soft voice, causing a smirk to paint the orange haired male's lips. "They say you can help fix me."

"I can't do that." Came a whisper, "I can't fix what isn't broken." He received a soft smile in turn. "I can try to help you control this.. Until.." He didn't need to voice the rest.

He felt her sit beside him, her breaths soft, the air around her restless.

He would do his best,

She deserved that much.

He would be damned if he allowed such a beautiful light flicker out or be engulfed so much that it burn her alive.

He saw it. Before, it was a silver show of snow like energy. It was calming and soothing, a silent lullaby. Something you felt in your soul, every part of your being, one could not help but bow down to it. Then, well then he felt the rage. The hatred, the betrayal – and it burned like all hell. He saw the seduction of the pink and the calling of the orange. She was blood and death, beauty and life, and love. She was everything and nothing all at once and he understood why they both feared and respected her. "I don't think there's much I can do." Pein admitted begrudgingly, "She is strong, I've never seen whatever this is.. I don't have any more answers than you have."

His hand went through his orange locks, "I don't have any more answers than I do questions, I can continue to work with her, helping her keep it restrained, finding her limits... but other than that.." Minato and Madara watched Pein intently, their eyebrows furrowed, "But what do then?" Minato finally asked, sinking into his seat.

Pein gave a passive look indicating he didn't have an answer. "You're worried about her," Pein stated in his monotone voice.

Minato looked up at Pein, "Yes, I'm worried because she is an amazing shinobi, a beautiful person – she is pretty much the embodiment of our ninja way." Minato answered softly, "She's in danger, and for all we know, we could all be as well." Madara nodded and Pein inclined his head, what could they do now?

"You've been distant lately." Itachi murmured into soft pink hair.

"Training, work, missions..." Sakura answered in a tired voice. Itachi remained silent and pulled the petite rosette closet, "I'm just tired."

Itachi circled his arms around the medic, "I love you," he whispered. Sakura smiled her tired smile before kissing Itachi "I love you too."

"Pein has been working hard with you." He observed, "Does he feel like he's helping?"

Sakura shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't been under any extreme circumstances since Naruto."

Itachi hummed, a smile painting his lips, "Maybe.." He murmured, "Maybe we can change that." He stated softly against the Haruno's lips, his hands moving along her body. A light laughed filled the air, his favorite melody. Eventually, a soft pink glow began to emit from the medic, "That's better." Mused the Uchiha as he climbed over the glowing woman.

-&.&.&.&

"Do you think he will make a move soon?" Asked Minato.

"Haven't any idea, I've not heard anything from any sources, he's been silent." Pein responded, his mask securely in place. Somewhere in the village, Pein could feel a pull of power. There was a barrier keeping it at bay, but he could feel it and see it, and from the color of it.. Pein cleared his throat and attempted to ignore it.

Minato flushed a bit, he was aware that Pein was more than likely to feel flares of power that Sakura experienced, more so than others would, even when protected barriers. He didn't feel the need to say anything, Pein's uncomfortable shifting told him all he needed to know, "I doubt he will stay that way." Murmured Tsunade, drunk as always, "And all you men are such pansies.." She hiccuped, "Girl needs to relieve her stress!"

A sweat drop came from both men in the room.

&.&.&.

Author's note:

I am SOOOO sorry it took me forever to update, life has been vicious lately.. Any who, hope ya'll enjoy!


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